Storytelling gets treated like decoration. A flourish. Something you add once the "real work" is done. But the truth is sharper. Story is the spark that brings everything else to life. In this episode, I'm joined by Jon Burkhart. Texas-born. West London based. A career that runs from sports marketing to real-time social to helping brands pitch with more conviction. He runs TBC Global and brings the kind of restless, inventive energy that makes rooms sit up. What stayed with me was Jon's definition of a good story. Not something new. Something true. A messy human insight told in a fresh way that shakes a memory loose. The line that makes someone think: I've always felt that, but no one's ever said it quite like that. If you care about making your work land, this conversation will help. We talk about: • Bringing emotion and humour into industries that default to logic • Using story to build trust rather than just grab attention • Deciding who the real hero is in your marketing • Keeping the human heartbeat strong in an age of AI It's equal parts useful and uncomfortable, in the best way. The kind of conversation that makes you want to scrap a few slides and tell one sharper, truer story instead.