If there's a

part of you that feels like it

hasn't finished something, it

doesn't necessarily mean it's

the end and that's you've closed

the book on it. And I think it's

really easy to think that it is,

you know, it's really easy to

think that now I'm defined as

the video guy, whatever, you

know, I've got to continue doing

that, reading or writing the

story that was kind of

accidentally written, maybe

along the way, I can't change

it. And actually, that's not the

truth.

Hello and welcome

to storytelling for business,

the podcast that helps you forge

connections with your ideal

clients, your teams and the

people who matter by telling

stories they can't resist. I'm

Katie Flamen. I'm a voice actor,

podcaster, in case you haven't

realised, presenter and ex

broadcast journalist, I work a

lot with corporate clients,

helping them to communicate with

their customers and grow their

brands. So I read and narrate a

lot of scripts for a lot of

corporate campaigns, and you're

not supposed to kick your mic if

you're a professional

broadcaster either.

Unfortunately, some corporate

scripts are better than others,

and I'm trying to get to the

bottom of why that is. I do know

is often to do with the stories

they want to share and how they

go about doing it. So in this

podcast, I'm talking to

storytelling experts and regular

business owners too, to figure

out what works, what doesn't,

and why. And I'm really happy to

have you here, lovely, lovely

listener to share in all these

discoveries. Now, today's guest

is mostly all about video. Andy

greenhouse runs swipe, a video

production company based in

London. And Brighton, he lives,

breathes and creates brand

stories through animation,

interviews, explainers, title

sequences, motion graphics,

films and videos for social

media, TV and hell of a lot more

as well. Andy knows how to

connect your story to the right

people. He's worked for really

big brands like Vogue, Toyota,

John Lewis three mobile, Amex,

KPMG boots and the white

company, but he also helps

smaller clients too with

everything from their branding,

identity and creative business

thinking through to, of course,

their video marketing. But Andy

is a lot more than just a video

guy. He's a writer, an artist, a

teacher. He's always searching

for connection and community,

and I think storytelling is the

thread that runs through it all.

So let's say hello. Andy

greenhouse, welcome to the

podcast. Hi. That was

amazingly

professional. I am in awe of

your skills. I'm reading

off a script.

That's what I do. Okay, so

welcome. It's so brilliant to

have you. It was quite tricky to

sum you up in that intro,

because you facilitate

storytelling by helping people

to make videos, kind of and

other stuff. But I think it's

who you are. I mean, how it how

would you describe yourself, if,

we you know the elevator pitch,

somebody as

somebody who can't do elevator

pitches, especially when they're

talking about themselves.

Because, yeah, I think what you

touched on is a confusion,

creative confusion, I guess I'm

calling it right at this moment

because career, I think

creativity, generally, you don't

have to define it, but in

business, in the business world,

you do. And I guess over the

years, I have defined myself as

different things. And right now

I'm kind of in the mix of at the

point of bringing everything

together. So bringing you know,

my design background, my video,

everything together. So I would

say I try to be a creative all

rounder, I suppose, but that

doesn't help people understand

what you do. So I say I'm the

video guy, you know, yeah,

although that's just one part of

it these days.

Yeah, it's really

interesting, isn't it? I love

how you said you don't need to

define it, because almost, I

think almost, if you try and

define creativity, it's like

putting a lid on it. And the

whole point of creativity is you

never know what's gonna what's

gonna come from one thing to the

next thing to the next thing,

and, and. But obviously, if

you're in business, you do need

to tell people what you what you

can do. And I saw, I mean, I

sometimes say. Think showing is

often better than telling.

Showing is has

always been better than telling.

For me, that was always the way

that we would talk to potential

clients. Prospective clients

would be to hide behind the

work, kind of, you know, imagine

the work as a physical thing,

and you push it through the door

first, and you kind of wave

quietly behind, going, Hi, I'm

Andy, but look at this please.

Yeah, you know,

yeah. And

actually, in a way, it is all

about them, right? It's all

about what it's about their

story. It's about their vision.

It's about their audience. It

isn't really about you, slash

us, slash creatives. It's what

we kind of can birth for one

better word, Bring, bring to the

fore. Maybe that's better.

Yeah, birthing

is a good analogy, I guess,

yeah, because you're looking at,

you are firstly looking at why

they're doing it, and why they

want to speak to a particular

audience, and then everything,

everything comes from that. And

you know the language you use,

where they hang out, where

they're going to see whatever

you're producing, or feel

whatever you're producing, what

context their lives take? I

guess you know that just a huge

amount of So, yeah, so it's not

even about the clients, about

the audience that the client is

trying to reach. It's a cliche,

isn't it? But it's the cliches

are often the truest.

And I like that

you use the word feel, because

that's what it's about. It isn't

just about what you see you can

we look at stuff all the time

and we hear stuff all the time,

but it's what we actually take

in and what we feel. And that's

the emotional connection, isn't

it? That that that that's what

storytelling is, whether it's

in, whether it's through a

brand, story, whether it's

visual, whether it's through a

video, it's about what, what do

you make them feel?

Yeah, I mean, I

am all about that, the

emotional, the feel, the feels,

and how you kind of reach

somebody kind of under the skin,

and it's not always easy, but I

feel like I've always been quite

an emotional person, so I

recognise that people like me

well, So everybody's everybody

has an emotional bed deep

within. It just depends on how

thick the skin is. To get in

there. Everyone can relate to

something somebody is feeling,

but they don't necessarily want

to acknowledge it, or they don't

want to show that,

because it's

vulnerable, it's it's safer,

it's safer to shut it down, I

think, or to to laugh it off, or

politely move on, as British

people like to do. Yeah, yeah,

okay, we've already gone

exceptionally deep, and we're

like, two minutes in. Okay, so

what is so great about video?

Why should people use let's

bring this right back to our

listener. Why should people use

video in their marketing?

I guess,

depending on who, who you are,

how, what sort of size you are,

business wise marketing, it's

just the easiest, quickest way

if you can engage somebody to

get a message across. No

question about it. I mean, it

just needs to be crafted in the

right way for the right

audience. You

said, What? What?

Depending on what size you are.

So there's different there's

different kinds of video, isn't

there? And and there's, there's

obviously the super high budget,

a broad shoot, multiple

location, multiple camera,

multiple crew shoots that don't

come along that often, but are

amazing when they do, I'm

guessing. And then there's then

there is the other end of the

spectrum. Well, which is your

selfie video school? I was going

to say, like everyone with a

phone can be a video content

creator, that Tiktok is here.

We're stuck with it, but not

everyone is comfortable with

being on camera. But you started

selfie video school. So just

tell us about that. Why on earth

you would empower people to do

video by themselves, when you

should be surely getting them to

pay you to do video for them?

Counter

intuitive, isn't it? I mean, I

think, I think the thing for me

is you can't what. I mean, you

can't ignore what's happening in

the market. You look at the

signs, you recognise that user

generated content, or is it is,

you know, growing. This was back

in, you know, 2015 I think we

just noticed it.

2015 I mean, back

into, yeah,

back in 2015

there were, I think that was

around the time when platforms

like Periscope and Vine were

sort of doing the rounds, and we

were sort of experimenting,

seeing, you know, how to help

clients. I remember a client

said, Oh, we want a 22nd video.

And I was like, Well, do you

want to shoot more than 20

seconds to get that 20 seconds,

or you kind of just, you're just

hooked on that 20 seconds? And

she was no, just wanted to 22nd

video. That's it. Because, you

know, that was what was kind of

popular at the time, yeah, but

the selfie video school. So we

were producing, you know,

producing lots of different

content for lots of different

brands and businesses, animation

through to film stuff, all

different genres of each. But I

have never particularly enjoyed

getting in front of the camera.

Always had a problem with sort

of self confidence in that way.

And like many people, what I was

saying earlier, you know what

people feel, what other people

feel? And there's a tonne of

there's more people that feel

like me than people who are

comfortable with the camera,

yeah, like, way more. I mean,

it's just ridiculous. So I'd

been writing on LinkedIn for a

year, maybe a year and a half in

2015 No, sorry, this was, this

was, I didn't, I didn't start

selfie video school in

2015 No, how long

did you start it? Year

ago? Just in

2023 Yeah, like November 2023 so

I had been writing and getting

over my fear of uni even posting

a selfie. I mean, it's like as

myself, you know, writing as

myself, etc. And there was just

this feeling that I work in

video. I need to get in front of

video. I need to I need to push

myself. I've always felt like

self challenges the way that you

move yourself forward, you know,

you get to the next stage, and

maybe that's an incremental

step, but all those increment,

incremental steps they they work

towards the bigger picture. So I

started doing sporadic videos,

trying to help people with the

same fear as I have, you know,

which doesn't go away, it's just

gets easier. And then I kind of

decided to turn that into, I was

pushing this away, pushing this,

this idea of doing a 30 days of

video, because I'd seen someone

else do 30 days of video, I

thought, I can't. Can I I do

that? And because I work in

video, I thought, if I can't do

it. What hope is that? You know,

yeah, what hope is this? So, so,

yeah, so that was, that was what

kicked off, you know, selfie

video sport, basically, what is

it? It's, it's an excuse to for

a group of people to get

together and push themselves out

of comfort in front of the

camera, and learn about some,

you know, technical things like

lighting and all things that you

can do yourself with a phone,

which will improve how you come

across on camera and how you how

the aesthetics are on camera,

and, you know, just little

things, And

I would say, how

you come across in life also.

So this is the

thing that I didn't realise

after this the first initial

time I did it. So I put the word

out there that I was doing 30

days of selfie video school kind

of wrapped, you know, wrapped

some nice sort of fun stuff

around the whole school analogy.

I'm a designer as well. So I,

you know, branded the thing and

stuff like that. And then a

group of people were invested.

We met on a Monday and we met on

a Friday. So Friday after school

club and Monday assembly. You

know, nice bookends, lovely sets

you up for the week. You make

friends. You've got support from

each other. And anyway, after

the 30 days, my goal was

basically to walk. It's. So

ridiculous. Sounds so

ridiculous, but was to walk in

to a supermarket with doing a

video, right? And it's that

seemed like so far out of my

comfort zone. On day one and on

day 30, I walked into the local

Lidl because, you know, I just

couldn't be seen in waitress

talking to myself,

yeah, that's,

that's grade this, this

particular challenge, realistic

expectations.

And I felt,

yeah, I had felt increasingly

more confident over the period

of those 30 days, 30 days,

weirdly, time in life, you know,

just talking face to face to

people, because it is, yeah,

there's something that happens.

There's an acceptance as a self

acceptance, and you're not so

conscious of yourself. I think

that's the thing. So, yeah,

every now and again, I kick off

another 30 days.

Did you find the

people that participated? Did

you find that their journey was

similar to yours in terms of,

kind of like maybe at the

beginning, thinking, There's no

way I can do this, but I'm going

to try. And then perhaps at the

beginning, doing multiple takes

of the thing and and stressing

about it, and then as they went

on by, by the time you get to

day 20, they're just half gonna

sake. I'm just gonna do it. Just

going

to do it. I

think, yeah, everybody comes

from a different place. So

there's, there are people who

are quite confident on camera,

who sort of learn more about

technical stuff. Yeah, they

don't have the same hang ups

that I do about, you know,

talking, speaking, literally.

And then there are people who

are exactly like me, who are

like, Yes, I I tried, and I know

it's not very good, but I posted

in the group, and it's a kind of

a safe space to share. It's a

totally safe space, yeah, it's

basically, you know, somewhere

that you can, you can put your

videos and people get to know

you. I mean, that is the hugest

you know you're talking about.

Why is video good? So if you're

a small solopreneur, business

owner, or you're a CEO, you want

to people, or you're a coach,

you want people to get to know

you potentially, and video is

like the easiest way to get to

know somebody before you've met

them. And you will. And if you

both do it, you will, there'll

be something when you finally

meet. There won't be this weird

awkwardness. It could, because

you already know each other,

even if you haven't, kind of had

a call together, because you

kind of, if you do it enough,

you know, people do get to know

you. So that was, that was

really part of the point of it

as well, or it became the point

of it. You know, it's much more

about well, if you haven't tried

it. It is really great way for

people to understand you as a

person.

And so people

weren't posting about this is

the latest project I've just

finished, or let me show you my

office. What kinds of things

were people in terms of getting

to know a person? Is this? Like,

here's my dog,

what sort of

level? So, yeah, I mean, so it

could be you're, you're just

describing exactly what you're

going through shooting a video.

I mean, I'm sure you know,

that's what I was doing to start

with, yeah, because it, it makes

you human, you know, it makes

people go, okay, I get that,

that person is not comfortable

doing this, but then I wouldn't

be either, you know. So there's

already, you know, there's a

nice empathy there.

Nobody wants to

see the success stories, do

they? And not, not that people

enjoy seeing, you know, somebody

slip over on a banana skin, but

a bit of a bit of courage to

show actually. This is really

awkward, and I'm really

struggling with this, but I'm

just doing it, and here it is.

Here I am in all of my

vulnerable humanness. It's

really powerful.

Well, it is,

yeah, I think we're all too bit

tired of the success stories,

aren't we, because, you know,

people talk more now, they

understand that people are going

through things. Everybody's

going through something. So,

yeah. I mean, you don't have to

bear your soul, but just showing

a little bit of humility is not

a bad thing,

I think. And as

you say, if you do that, then

people will when they come and

meet you, they already know,

like and trust, all the things

that all the kind of you know,

the marketing mantras that

people say. But you're right,

they feel. Like they already

know you, and if they've checked

out your website, and if they've

read your posts and they've seen

you on video, it's just another,

I don't know. I mean, sort of

imagining, like a pie chart of

the site. The slice size that

video is, I reckon it's quite

big your website, and your video

will be quite large bits of the

pie. And then a couple of, a

couple of posts on Facebook,

maybe a bit smaller, I don't

know that's there's no science

behind that. I'm just thinking

how powerful. No,

no, I agree. I

think, yeah, proportionately the

I suppose, if you're doing a pie

chart of influence, of

connection or something. Video,

yeah, there's in person, then

video is definitely the next one

down. And I don't know where,

yeah, and it comes into brand,

you know, it comes into the

whole brand thing, if you are,

if you are you, and that is your

brand. You know, if you're a

voice artist, then you know,

that's exactly where you're at,

isn't it? Although you're it's

not about you, but it is about a

very personal part

of you. Yeah. I

mean, my job's weird, it people?

Yeah, people want to work with

me because I'm me, but actually

they want me to embody them,

whether it's the voice of the

company or whether it's the

voice of the workforce. So

that's weird, but you're right.

They do need to connect, or have

some kind of connection with me,

or think I'm the right person,

slash voice. I mean, I'm a weird

example. Don't use me as an

example.

Okay, yeah, no,

that's the thing. I think, yeah,

maybe it's a bad that's a bad

example, yeah, because it's so

weirdly self referential, isn't

it so but, but

branding, that's kind of where

you're you said at the

beginning, you're bringing in

all of the different areas and

and your brand is like, right?

The very kind of hub of that,

isn't it in the middle of the

spokes of the wheel or whatever

the cherry on the pie? I don't

know. I'll just shush but talk

about branding.

Yeah. So I

because I was a designer, I was

trading graphic design, I

studied graphic design, I went

into film, and then I was in

magazines publishing for 12

years, I left publishing, and

then I started my own creative

Bureau, I suppose it was

literally the size of a bureau,

and then I started the video

company. So so I went through

this kind of transition time.

You know, we're talking about

creativity. There is a kind of

pattern with, if you're, if

you're designing a spread in a

magazine, or you're doing an,

you know, creating an ad for a

brand, there's a lot of the same

conventions. You know you have a

message and you have you have

two messages. Potentially, you

have a typographic message. You

have the words that that

typographic message tells the

audience. You have, potentially,

a visual that is complementing

that message altogether. That

is, that is, you know,

communication that is effective

communication, if done well, you

can obviously do this in video,

with moving image and type if

you want, or voice. It's

more three

dimensional, isn't

it? Yeah, I

guess so. So all those elements

sort of play with each other.

Branding is in as at the heart

of that. And if you are a

personal brand, I guess if

you're a one person business,

and that is and you are your

business, then my sorry, I kind

of, I think I got lost in my own

explanation. But I

get it. I get it.

I get exactly what you're

saying. You're talking about the

progression, but it's all

connected. It's all part of it.

And if you are, if you're the

brand, you're you, but there's

also obviously the elements of

what you do and how you do it,

and and, yeah, I think, I think

it's, it's really fascinating to

see, kind of see that

progression and see how you've

gone, yep, okay, I got this bit

sorted. Now let's bring in these

other elements, and now let's

double down. Because when you

get to we're never at the end of

our personal or professional

journeys, are we? We're always

growing. But just because of you

are who you are now, there's

still all those other Andes

working in you know, on your

team, who know all that stuff

and have all those discoveries

that they made, and they bring

stuff to the party that perhaps

you hadn't maybe remembered. So

there's you wrote this brilliant

well. We'll talk about LinkedIn

in a minute, but you wrote this,

this excellent post that that I

want to just share, because you

were literally talking about

story and our own narratives,

and how sometimes we can get

stuck in a story that maybe,

maybe doesn't serve us or or we

forget about our old stories

that we could perhaps revisit.

So I'm just going to read it. If

you don't, can I read it? Do you

mind if I read it? Yeah, go for

it. Okay, it's really lovely

what you put and I just thought

I'm going to say that to Andy,

so let me just get the piece of

thing over here. So you said

it's funny when we do that,

listen to a narrative that seems

to be our story, but leaves

another one behind, and one day,

you find yourself so far through

the book, there seems to be no

going back that the story is

never really finished. If

there's a part of you that's

stuck on an earlier page. Maybe

it's time to write a new ending.

Do you still have a page you

need to revisit just, I just

love it. It's poetry.

It's poetry. I'm not

sure about that, but,

and you were

talking about going back to

doing art, but it could be

anything. Could be anything for

anybody. Couldn't

it, yeah, yeah.

That was, that was because I am

about to illustrate a book for a

friend, which I have, you know,

I've, it's kind of, it's talking

to myself, trying to encourage

myself and anyone else who is,

you know, who has forgotten that

they once did something. You

know, I was just drawing as a

kid the whole time. But yeah,

it's if you're if there's a part

of you that feels like it hasn't

finished something. It doesn't

necessarily mean it's the end

and that's and, you know, you've

closed the book on it. And I

think it's really easy to think

that it is, you know, it's

really easy to think that, Oh,

I've, I'm now, I'm defined as

the video guy, whatever. You

know, I've got to continue doing

that, and, you know, reading or

writing the story that was kind

of accidentally written, maybe

along the way, I can't change

it. And actually, that's not the

truth, because it just, it's,

it's really, it's really, it's

ingrained, I think, into our

thinking that we're like, like,

okay, not everybody. I mean,

there are people who, who

entrepreneurial, people who jump

from one business to another,

very different businesses, and

business is their thing, and

they're very skilled at business

and and almost those genres, or

whatever they whatever

businesses they're working in,

maybe that they're irrelevant,

and it's just in business is the

thread that you know, it's their

thing. But for Yeah, for me,

because, like you touched on at

the start, because I feel like

I've been in different

industries and different done

different stuff, you know, I did

a lot of web stuff when I

started my own thing, because I

was doing film nights and I had

to promote them. So built my own

website, and then I learned how

to build other stuff, you know.

So there are lots of kind of

different skills in the mix, but

what I realise now after working

on a branding job for probably

the first time in 10 years,

really was that everything that

I know it's almost like a

perfect point to bring all of

that together. So, you know,

we're doing. I started working

on this job, and it wasn't

anything to do with video at the

start. It was a branding and

identity job, and then that tone

of voice design, both app and

web, but it's really about the

whole brand, the brand as a

whole, and that's what I really

love. I've been talking to

people who are one person

businesses, which I've never

done really before. I did it a

little bit, maybe a few years

ago, but not, not in the way

that I think about it now, and

not with the video in my back

pocket as well, you know. So

it's, it's a really exciting

time, I think to suddenly I

realised that all those stories

that I told myself that I

couldn't go back and do those

things, it's not the case. Is

actually I feel. Stronger, I

think.

Does that make

sense? Sorry, absolutely no. I

was just, I was just really

enjoying that answer, yeah,

it's, it's within our power to

choose our own story and not be,

yeah, not be railroaded by, by

just being carried along by it,

I think, and having some kind of

agency, it's really, it's

really, really powerful. And I

was thinking, you said, you said

the creative direction. And like

in my line of work, I connect

with people who are called

Creative Directors, but in my

head, that is somebody who tells

me how they would like a

particular line to be delivered,

but actually the direction

creatively of a brand, it's,

it's got so much more momentum

to it. It's, it's got movement,

and it's got, it's a lot more

than a creative director. You

bring creative direction, and

that's way bigger. I think there

we are just geeking off on

minutes, okay?

But yeah, I

mean, well, no, I would say, I

would say the elements I've

always I had when I was in

magazines, I bought a book in

the states that was called the

education of an art director,

and it was basically talking

about the fact that people don't

know what an art director is in

that context. You know, not in

film. And it was really about

orchestrating all those

elements. And it's not something

that is easily definable. And

like you say, suggesting that

somebody speak in a different

tone is, is just one part of

that whole So,

yeah, yeah. Love

it. I love it. Well, I think

what do I know? But I think you

are so brilliant at what you do

and and I'm going to encourage

everybody to look at your

website and connect with you on

LinkedIn. You write on LinkedIn,

every single day, every single

day. I mean, what are you like?

How long have you done that for?

Yeah, so I've

done it now. It's over 1000 days

now, but it's because, and that

was a self challenge, you know?

So I did. I went to the do

lectures, May in July, I think

2022 which is, if anyone doesn't

know what the do lectures is, I

don't know. It is a nice

gathering of people to listen

to, people, inspiring people

speak. And I wanted to write

about it. I hadn't written on

I'd basically come off social

for about a year after COVID. It

was just I was I sort of

couldn't I just put my head in,

down to into my work, and I

couldn't handle the noise. I

think that's what it was. I

couldn't handle the imposter

syndrome, the noise, the the

feeling that I was becoming

irrelevant, you know, we're, you

know, all wrapped up in age and

stuff like that. And I went to

the do lectures to as part of

that kind of journey to sort of

see what's next and what to find

myself, I suppose, didn't know

what to expect, and then I just

wanted to write about it, so I

went back to LinkedIn. I didn't

go back onto Instagram or

anything else. I wrote a thing

about it, and then I wrote. I

thought, I'll write the next

day, and then I wrote the next

day and the next day. And then I

found other people, just because

you're in your one if you're in

one place, you go to a shop

every day, gonna see some of the

same people, right? True. So in

the end, you're kind of chatting

to those people and and some of

them are relating to you and

what you're writing, and you're

relating to what they write. And

you think, Okay, well, maybe we

could be friends then, at least

in our words. And then that's

when it started. Yeah, so and I

kind of didn't stop. And then it

became this self exploration

thing. You know, I've always

been, always been curious about

my own brain, because it never

didn't really seem to work like

other people's brains. So I

would just kind of write stuff

out, and I'm not very good at

speaking, or this is the story I

tell myself, right? I'm not good

at speaking. So if ever that

gets back into my head, then it

will like it's right there. Now

that narrative, it's right

there. I'm speaking to you.

Well, it can

shush. You're doing very well.

And writing, I

could express myself. I could

express how I really feel so

and, you know, I recognise that

other people got something from

that.

Yeah, I. So, so

LinkedIn was massive for you.

Then in terms of, like you said,

you went to those lectures to

find yourself, and you really

didn't know what your direction

was, and you were freaking out

about being too old to be in the

business you were in, and all of

that I paraphrase, but I guess

the gist I'm getting. And then,

and then you found a community

on LinkedIn and and now, now

it's kind of, you're very much a

part of the furniture, I think,

with all your daily stuff. But

it's never rubbish. What you

post. It's always exceptionally,

yeah, beautiful, thought

provoking, powerful. It's, it's,

it's ace, and presumably it

works for you, as I know that

you're not doing it to get work,

but presumably it works for you

because of all the things we've

said. Do you get work from from

connections on LinkedIn?

So yes is the

easy answer to that, but I was

really conscious that I wasn't

really writing stuff about work

at the start of it, and it was

very much about my kind of

thinking. I knew that, you know,

I because we had in the

business, we had gone through

every social channel and kind of

rated it as this is this most

likely to get you clients at the

end of it. LinkedIn was always,

always the one, but it was

always the one that was the

least fun. So we would not

really do anything on LinkedIn,

and we post stuff on Instagram

and, you know, but it's always,

it's just about triggering, you

know, a thought, isn't it? It's

not about any it's not like you

can choreograph. There's a

client at the end who is reading

your stuff. But yeah, what

happened was essentially just

organically, I got to know

people, and maybe somebody even

recommended me to somebody, and

then somebody gives me a direct

message. Last year, I worked

with two people who I just sort

of got to know, and they just

happened to have projects which

will you know, this branding,

this branding project is one of

them. And because I'm not very

good at I suppose selling myself

or my skills,

I would carry on.

But I have issue, take issue

with that. Okay?

I think I try,

I try in my own language, but I

think I'm not, I can't say I can

do this, I can do this, I can do

this, I can do this. I have I

can't.

But nobody wants

to hear

that. No, I

know. But you know, if a lot of

people who are a bit more

ruthless with it actually get

places quicker because of it,

because they're just incessantly

about all the

things they do, yeah, yeah, you

know. So, so I

think, so yeah, absolutely, it

has been a back to the know,

like and trust thing. It's been

exactly that. It's been people

have kind of reached out and

said, would be good to work

together. And sometimes those

projects aren't there at that

point. And then maybe down the

line they can't say, Yeah, I was

paranoid I was going to lose

clients because I was being

honest and open. Maybe I have, I

don't know,

but then you want

to work with right? That's it,

yeah, that's it. I

mean, it

doesn't make my work like I'm

the person I am, but it doesn't

make my work any different, you

know, I can the point about, you

know, looking at an audience and

what an audience needs from a

brand is different to who I am

as a person, just means I can

think quite deeply about it and

look at those emotional

connections.

Yeah, and you

talked about being interested in

how you think and your brain and

all of that stuff. I've, I've

got an ADHD diagnosis. I think

you're on that that journey too.

Is that something that is this

like a kind of an extra bit of

clarity for you, or is that

something that's been completely

earth shattering and fundamental

to the next part of your kind of

growth and your journey and your

story?

Yeah, I think

I've always been looking for

something to, you know, an

undefined thing, to try and

explain something and and it was

purely through talking to

somebody, seeing somebody's

post, having a call with them.

Then I spoke that that was when

the penny dropped. Of maybe I

should look at. To this. And

then I spoke to an ADHD coach on

one of my 12 hour cool things,

and, oh yeah, we haven't even

talked about that. I did a I

chatted to her about it, and

then she put me onto a book. And

then I listened to this book,

and then it was basically, yeah,

an epiphany moment. I realised

this, the book that she put me

onto was talking directly to me

in my language. Do you remember

the title? Can we share it? Yes,

it's really easy. ADHD, two

point, naught, okay, so yeah.

And that was Yeah. And then I,

you know, went to the doctor and

got a referral, essentially. And

then typical kind of scenario, I

did nothing about it for two

years, and then we changed house

and changed doctor, so I've just

re got re referred again, so I'm

just waiting for the next stage.

Yes, it's

good luck. Good

luck, thanks. It's yeah, it's a

it's a bit of a mean paradox

that the process of getting a

diagnosis for ADHD is extremely

unhelpful to people with ADHD.

Yeah,

it's not, yeah.

I think somebody spoke about the

grief that they felt for the

person they could have been. And

that was that was that kind of

resonated, because I think that,

you know, I've always been

trying to get to the next level

of something. I don't know what

that is, but I think, I think,

you know, when you have

ambition, you don't really know

why you've got this ambition.

It's quite Yeah, it's quite nice

to have it explained, yeah,

yeah. Anyway,

it's nice to have

a reason it. I think it will

help with, for me, certainly it

helped with kind of the feelings

of, sort of, why, why? Why

nobody this is this? Isn't this

how everybody thinks, or Isn't

this how everybody is? Yeah,

really, really interesting.

Well, so I always end the

podcast by asking people about

the next part of their story,

but first, before we do that,

where can people find you? How

can people connect with you? And

is selfie video school coming

back? Can people sign up for

that? We'll put all the stuff in

the show notes, but just tell

us as well. What were

the questions, yes. How

can people

connect with you? Andy, how can

they connect with you and work

with

you? So

LinkedIn is, is probably the

best way, because if you don't

like me, you can find out a bit

more about me, I suppose, if you

really want to. So yeah, and if,

and if you are looking for

somebody, I'm working on a thing

at the moment, which is like a

creative support created a kind

of personal creative director

model. So that is an that's an

interesting kind of segue of my

skill set, and it's really

speaks to how I enjoy working

with people. So yeah, please

connect, because I really like

connecting and swipe, SW, h, y,

p, e.com, that's got video stuff

on. It's not updated enough, but

yeah, that's kind of the video

things. I don't even have the

design stuff anywhere, not on

the site that I'm going to Yeah,

exactly. So, not that I'm going

to tell you about. But anyway.

So, so yeah,

what does your

story look like for the next

five years? If you can possibly

go there, you know, you're a

dad, you've got all these, all

of these kind of Starbursts

going on with all these

different, different projects.

What's, what's up there for you?

Yeah, well, I,

like, I said, I'm, I'm actually,

for the first time in, like,

however many years, I don't

know, 40 years or something, I'm

illustrating a book I did next

one for the next door economics

teacher once. So, yeah,

illustrating a book and

designing it, what kind of

that's interesting fiction?

Yeah, it's like, it's kind of

like a kid's kind of, yeah, so

kids sort of like a kid's book.

But it's not quite, not quite

there, not quite just that

simple. But so if I actually get

my confidence up with drawing,

maybe I'll do more of that.

Maybe I'll finally do the book

that I wanted to do, write a

book which is about, yeah, yeah.

I had a, you know, when, when my

daughter, she was like five. I.

Write this kind of thing, and

never. And I thought, Oh, I'm

going to make a book. And then I

didn't, but, yeah, I'm going to

bring all the skills together

and work, hopefully, work with

people evolving their business

creatively, and that is kind of,

that's, that's, it's taken this

long for me to evolve far enough

to actually understand that I

think is what I can help people

with. I think, I

think that's definitely what you

help people with. And and we're

always evolving, and we're

always changing, and new things

happen all the time. So So

everybody's hopefully people are

growing in the same direction,

and and there's a synergy. And,

yeah, well, I would so urge

people to follow Andy Greenhouse

on LinkedIn and and dive in to

all of them, the the next round

of selfie video school, and all

of the the other amazing things

that you offer, because there's

so much value in just, in just

reading your posts. And if you

go beyond that, then, then you

can only benefit

you. Oh, I

really appreciate that. Thanks.

Yeah, there will be another

selfie video school 30 days, and

I am somewhere, I'm going to put

all of the previous stuff

online, and maybe people can buy

me a coffee or something like

that. I've never done anything

with that at all for financial

reasons, financial gain. It's

never been about that, so it's

just about been about that

confidence kind of thing. But

obviously, things take time, so

maybe

I'm sure that,

I'm sure people would would do

that, and you're going to be

really wired from a very, very

large amount of caffeine. So

yeah, well, I

hope

so it'd be great.

It's been such a pleasure having

you on Andy. There's so much

good stuff in our conversation,

and I really appreciate you

taking the time to talk to us

today. So Andy greenhouse, thank

you so much.

Katie Fleming,

thank you.

Weren't there so

many beautiful elements to that

conversation? A massive thanks

again to Andy for being here.

And here are today's key

takeaways. One only you. Are

you? It's a safe bet. There's

lots of other people doing the

same job as you, but people are

going to want to work with you

if they feel a connection to

you, share stories about

yourself and demonstrate what

you learned from your previous

jobs that make you who you are,

and show them what you're going

to bring to their party. Andy

told us all about those previous

roles he's had in design and

print and branding and websites

and social media marketing and

writing and video. So all those

skills are at his fingertips,

and they make him such a

brilliant creative two use

video. It's the easiest and

quickest and most direct way to

connect with your audience,

engage them, and get your

stories across. If you're

listening to the podcast on an

audio only format. Why not check

out the video version. You get a

whole other layer of me and my

brilliant guests, of course. And

if you need some help with your

video, sign up for Andy's selfie

video. School or book him to

create your project with you

three. Who is it for Andy said

that when he makes a film or

creative project, he's always

thinking about the audience that

his client wants to reach, and

don't forget to make sure you

know where those people hang out

online, because there's no point

posting on Insta if your ideal

clients are only on LinkedIn

four. Get under their skin. What

do you want those people to feel

Andy said that's super

important. So make sure you know

what emotions you're aiming to

generate with every piece of

work you produce and every story

you share. Five keep it real.

Andy said everybody's going

through something. And He also

pointed out that we're all a bit

tired of success stories. You'll

create empathy with your

audience. If you're able to be a

bit vulnerable on camera. In

this age of AI, it matters more

than ever that we can show our

humanity and all our messy,

beautiful human flaws. And

lastly, number six, it's your

story. You're in control of your

own narrative. Don't forget that

your book is a work in progress,

and if you want to write a new

chapter or revisit an old one,

just turn to a fresh page and go

for it. So so good. Can you

believe? Andy said he had a

voice in his head that said. He

isn't a good speaker. Okay,

coming up next time,

my mother taught me how

to turn a nickel into a quarter

and make spaghetti last till

Thursday. You know, life's

experiences is what qualifies

us, and sometimes we think that

if we don't have the best degree

or the biggest job, that we

can't do the most important

things, and it's usually common

sense or having conversations.

And that's kind of one of the

things about my story, is that

I'm not afraid to be an

icebreaker. If you want to talk

about it and you want to sit

down and have that hard

conversation, I'll have at it. I

might not say the words as

pretty as you. I might not be

able to talk as fancy as the

next guy, but I'll talk that

truth. It's as flawed as it

comes and as flawed as I am. If

you'll have that conversation

with me, how we can make this a

better place for the next guy,

I'm all in

Alabama

powerhouse Lisa Ward shares her

story, her why, and her vision

of creating low cost energy from

abandoned coal mines. It's a

fascinating and inspiring

conversation. Please subscribe

so you don't miss it. I really

hope you're enjoying this series

as much as I am. I'd love to

know so please leave a review or

drop me an email. I'm Katie

Flamen, and this is storytelling

for business until next time.

Goodbye you.