Ash Rathod

You already know storytelling is essential for your business and brand. But storytelling is much more than the words on your website, content and other communications. The right narrative can inform your short and long term strategy, help align your team, outmanoeuvre the competition and build a tribe of ambassadors.It can help you attract and retain the right customers who are willing to pay you more for a longer period of time and tell others to do the same.It's about high level performance. ie. increasing profits for the business and providing unique value to the people you serve.I specialise in guiding businesses do exactly this. My philosophy centres on a "Story-First Approach," a method that has proven to be the missing link for many who struggle with brand identity and growth.The challenge most people face when building a brand is twofold: either they're paralysed by indecision, never taking the first step, or they jump in headfirst, producing content without a coherent strategy. Both paths lead to a stagnant or unclear identity. The root cause? A lack of strategic direction.  I can help with that.---I studied media and communications specialising in script-writing, where my love for storytelling started. I worked in TV media alongside the London arm of global ad agencies such as StarCom, OMD, PHD Media and many smaller DRTV agencies. My portfolio stretched across global FMCG, (P&amp;G and Unilever) and automotive (Ford and Toyota) brands before moving to Turner Broadcasting (now Warner Bros. Discovery) to work on kids brands (such as Mattel and Hasbro). As the online world began to grow, I moved into Digital Marketing where I helped scale the Manchester office of a Bournemouth based media agency, going from media owner to client side, which consisted of a team of 20+ designers, marketers, copywriters and BDMs.Then after a short sales role at BT, I decided to start my own creative agency, to help start-ups to SMEs with with their communications online.This was almost 16 years ago. I'm proud to say I still run and I own that brand consultancy and design studio in the UK which has focused on serving start-ups to corporations over those years. Right now my focus covers:L&amp;D Training (1:1 &amp; Corporate teams)Speaking at eventsBrand Strategy workshops for start-ups and SMEs.None of these are an overnight fix.But if you are serious about shaping and growing your brand, I can help you do this faster than most.NB. My profile picture has been touched up with AI to change the colour of my shirt and  background

Brand Story Strategist | Managing Director

A brand strategy + design collective specializing in creating compelling content for digital communications. We work with forward-thinking founders, c-suite stakeholders, and marketing teams who passionately strive to lead the change in making the world of work a better place for all.

Our capabilities include:

Brand Strategy

  - Storytelling for brands 
  - Storytelling for leaders

Activation

  - Content Production
  - Media Planning

I fixed myself. 

AI has given me what I thought I could never have. 

A glimpse into what I’d look like if my skin colour stayed the same.

Or if I removed all the pigmentation on my skin (which can be done in real life. I had the option but declined) 

So which one do I prefer? For me, it’s a no brainer. The real me, in the middle. 

The left and right image was created by Nano Banana Pro. 

Which to be honest, as a tool, it’s amazing. In fact I’ve been playing with it a lot. I have been playing with a lot of AI tools. Image. Music. Vibe coding. And I will be using them a lot in my content, in my work processes and creating new business ideas. 

The next wave of AI tools will open doors for many people. I really am positive but cautious about it all.

Because it has to be used the right way and the right way for me is this:

Don’t be lazy with the tools (Use it to add a layer to the great work you do vs diluting it)
Don’t just blindly copy others. (‘differentiate or die’ mantra is still relevant. Now more than ever)
Don’t hide behind it (ie. pretend you’re something you’re not or try hiding the fact you’ve used AI. Especially if it’s likely to be in doubt for others)

I’m sure there are many other pros and cons. (let me know yours in the comments)

What I will be doing is making sure I inform my audience when I do use AI. For example, I am playing around creating a digital twin. And it's a lot of fun. But I won’t pretend it’s me. I’ll let others know when it’s not. Even when the tech becomes much better than it is now when even more  people won’t be able to tell. 

I think in this new phase, the people that are honest and upfront about how they communicate to their audience are going to be the ones that build trust. And ultimately the ones that win.

For me, I don’t want to fool anyone. Including myself. 

And more importantly. I don’t need to fix myself.

I already did that. 

When I accepted myself for who I really am.


---

#PersonalBranding and #Storytelling in an #AI world

Brand Storytelling in an AI World | Creative AI Workflow Consultant

This is not a real ad. 

And here's more context. 

I set myself a challenge to see what these AI tools were capable of and created this. My main learning out of all of this is, this still took a lot of human thinking, time and general input. 

So my challenge was to create a completely speculative ad using just AI tools. 

I chose a brand that I love. Love for their messaging and what they stand for. And then got to work. 

I would say this is still rough around the edges and an important thing to note is that I have no real idea what the brand strategy is so this should be considered. Real creative campaigns take time and a lot human collaboration. I did this completely on my own (and it shows I think :)  

There are also inconsistencies in the creative given the time I gave myself to create this. 

But in the main, I think the tools that are out there are really impressive. And I had a lot of fun with this. 

Tools I used were:

Weavy for workflow
LTX Studio for storyboarding
FreePik as the main base suite and character dev
Higgsfield (It's Popcorn element to experiment with characters)
Nano Banana for stills
Magnific for upscaling still resolutions 
Topaz to upscale video resolution
Kling 2.5 Turbo 2 for video
Seedream 4 Edit - Varied camera angles
Eleven Labs for VO and SFX
Suno for Music 

Then the usual tools I use:

Photoshop to retouch certain stills
After Effects for speed ramping elements
Premiere Pro for Editing

I plan to do a full walkthrough in the next few weeks if time permits ! :)

Would love to know your thoughts.


#Storytelling #AI

Anyone who says “AI content is quick and easy” is wrong. 

Well, sort of.

Producing AI creative content can be more efficient than many traditional methods but we’re not talking about a lot of the AI slop we’re accustomed to seeing on our feeds.

And those well versed in the traditional workflows (storytellers, designers, content strategists, ad creatives and marketing teams) shouldn't fear losing their jobs. If they up skill, they will actually rise to the top because they have the strongest superpower. Talent, experience and a way of thinking that comes from years of putting in the work that will make them stand out. 

But when working with clients or in collaboration with others, it’s important to have systems and workflows in place. This includes traditional workflows, not just AI. And by the way, the two still have a place in this world. It’s not as binary as many make out.

That’s why at DFC Studio we use Weavy. Weavy, (recently acquired by Figma) is a node based workflow system for creative AI work with a lot of the AI image and video tools in one place. It gives you, your team and clients an overview of the process from start to finish. 

Some clients won’t want to see this but some will. But for sharing and collaborating with your team it's great as it's important that you have systems in place that are transparent, repeatable and scalable. 

Or even if you’re working on your own you can go back quicker and reiterate/refine when client feedback comes back. 

If you’re interested in up skilling your team, At DFC Studio we offer consultancy and workshops to help you do this. These can be done in person or remote. If interested, please reach out (below or in my DM)

---

#Storytelling #Creative #AI #Marketing #Workshops

What Visionary Leaders Get Right About Brand

Brand isn’t just built by the things you do externally.

It's about how you show up internally too.

How your team feels every day.

In this weeks Watercooler Brand Talks (4pm Friday UK), we’ll be talking about the link between leadership, culture, and brand.

Why the strongest brands aren’t built by marketing teams alone. 

They’re shaped by the people leading from the front.

We’ll cover:

– What visionary leaders actually do differently
– How culture quietly builds (or breaks) your brand
– Why brand is the outcome, not the starting point

Join us live and definitely bring a question or two as we have two of the most visionary brand legends in this week as our secret guests who's brains you'll really want to pick.

This is going to be soooo much fun! See you there!

What Visionary Leaders Get Right About Brand

AI took me backwards, not forwards.

In a good way. 

The deeper I get into AI led creative work, the more I find myself leaning on traditional film theory.

At university, (many years ago :)) I specialised in script writing. Dialogue was the starting point, but it never stopped there. I fell into camera movement, physics, timing, weight, motion. How things enter a frame. How they leave it. Why something feels real even when we know it is not.

What fascinated me most was not learning the rules. It was learning them well enough to bend them. To stretch credibility without breaking belief. That’s the magic of film making. Whatever medium. To create moments that feel grounded, even when logic tells you they are constructed.

That mindset has been shaping my use of AI today.

The tools are new. The thinking is not.

If you treat AI as a shortcut, the output shows it. But if you approach it like film making, with intent, some restraint when needed, and an understanding of how humans read motion and story, the work will land very differently.

The recent sizzle reel is a snapshot of that experimentation. It’s not perfect but continuing to dig into what’s possible. 

Essentially storytelling principles wearing new clothes.

Those on the look for someone with a huge amount of experience with operations, delivery, automations, content production and more importantly leadership, Ryan is your man! 

If you're considering working with Ryan and want to speak to me then please do. 

A fab colleague he was.....and an extremely kind human being who is always ready to help, support, upskill and progress the team he works with.

What a loss to PodFirst and what a potentially huge gain for the next company that bags Ryan on their team!

Straight-Talking Guy | Cutting Through the Crap to Deliver Solutions, Growth, and Results That Actually Matter 💥

I have now left PodFirst and I am officially on the lookout for my next role. The timing isn’t perfect with Christmas approaching, but sometimes life pushes you into a new chapter sooner than expected. I made the decision because it was the right one for me and where I am heading next.

I am proud of what I achieved during my time there. It was challenging, fast paced and full of opportunities to grow, and I am grateful for the experience and everything I learned along the way.

For those who don’t know me well, here is what I bring to the table.

I am someone who cares about the work and the people involved. I take responsibility seriously and I show up fully. I work best in environments where pace, clarity and ownership matter. I enjoy solving problems, building systems, improving processes and keeping things moving even when things get busy. I thrive in roles where I can bring structure, calm and direction without losing the human side of it all.

My experience covers operations, delivery, leadership, automation, content production and working directly with clients to get projects over the line. I am at my best when I am trusted to own outcomes and make things happen.

So now I am looking for the right place to bring all of that into something new. If you hear of anything or know someone looking for someone with my skill set, I would really appreciate you pointing them my way.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far.

Onwards.

Ryan R. Sullivan

Podcast Strategy for Finance, Law & Coaching 🎙️ The Podcast Pipeline | DJ → Rapper → Marketer

Podcast strategy for finance, law, and coaching companies scaling to 7-figures and beyond. 
No marketers. No agencies. No freelancers. 
Just your podcast.

👇

Together, we'll build a system with your podcast. 

🎯 Who We Work With:

→ Law, finance, and online service companies that are tired of marketing agencies. 
→ Marketing teams who want a repeatable, low-lift content system.
→ Founders who would rather talk and let their team do the rest. 

🎙️ What You Invest In:

✓ A customized content strategy
✓ Custom YouTube, Podcast, and Email strategy
✓ Support for your team as they implement (we train them while you scale)

🙏 What You Get Today

Just a short call to discuss your podcast. 

https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

See you there.

– Ryan R. Sullivan

Founder

We help people launch top-1% podcasts with 0 paid promotion using a proven launch strategy tailored specifically to turn audience members into podcast fans.

Here are what some of our podcasters are saying: 

Mikhail Myzgin, VP of Marketing at Slice 

"Ryan is an excellent resource for anything about podcasting. His advice was spot-on, and his expertise helped us solve a problem we didn't know how to go about."

Calum Johnson, Marketing Manager at Public

"I reached out to Ryan because I wanted to start my own podcast & get some pointers from someone who had experience & expertise launching podcasts. The consultation call with Ryan was 100% worth it, Ryan has started a lot of podcasts & gave me great advice that would be difficult to find anywhere else."

Malik Handoush, Strategic Business Develop Coach

"As someone searching for guidance & direction on beginning a podcast, I decided to reach out to Podcast Principles for a consultation. Ryan surpasses any expectations you may have as he brilliantly identifies and assesses where you are and what you're trying to accomplish. His true superpower is in his listening skills where he will help you simplify and reach a point of clarity."

Ready to humanize your business or brand? 30 mins of free advice is cool too :) 

Let's talk - https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

Gabe Einhorn asked, 
"Can we make this video go viral?"
I felt my blood pressure rise.

My response: 

"I mean, I guess let's try!" 

Our first SAAS marketing video ever. 

For VryfID.

20,000+ impressions
200+ comments
200+ likes

In LinkedIn terms? 

That's viral 😂

Waiting to hear how many signups we got. 

HUGE thanks to Gabe Einhorn for hiring Podcast Principles to get this launch video out there! And of course, shouts to our editor Jose for putting the video together. 

VryfID lets renters and guarantors upload and store all of their documents in one secure profile, with identity verification built in, and then share everything with the broker or landlord through one secure link.

- The first 1,000 people who sign up at VryfID.com get 1 YEAR FREE when we launch.

NYC renters. Brokers. Owners.
This is for you.

#vryfID 
#viral

i turn your business into a podcast ➛ $5m in revenue | 500k downloads | 15m views for clients

"Do people actually charge their podcast guests??"
Yes, and they're evil...


Kidding 😂

Most of the time, they're smart. 

Only sometimes are they evil. 

Somebody in your industry 𝘪𝘴 charging $5000+ to be on their podcast. 

They’re not charging you for a guest spot.

They’re charging you for access to their audience.

They built an audience of your ideal prospects. 

So when you pay to be on their podcast, you’re getting direct access to potential customers who already resonate with the problem you solve.

Now, what you do with that access is up to you, but there's a world where walking away with a few deals could be a reality. OR this is simply a stepping stone to bigger podcasts and media appearances. 

The real value isn’t the podcast itself — it’s the audience you can earn trust with. 

#Podcasting 
#ContentMarketing 
#LeadGeneration

👇

PS: Would you ever pay to be on a podcast?

And then, I turned to Joe. 

"Have you seen this yet?"

Our Black Friday offer. 

His response?

"Jamie, pull that thing up." 

Yes, we have a black friday offer. 
No, I can't get you booked on Rogan.

But I can give away $13,750 worth of work for free.
For the first 5 people who claim it. 

Clients are seeing 10,000+ views/month with this. 

$13,750 worth of strategy, editing, and design. 

It’s all going down on my email list until they’re gone! 
 
Signup Here → https://lnkd.in/eQEEgeDt

Or don't if you don't like free stuff. 

#blackfriday

Last night, I sat in a room with 30 real estate investors.
Millionaires, lenders, wholesalers, and vendors.
The most asked question?

"How are you leveraging social media?"

Briana answered:

"We stopped every single other marketing activity except social media and SMS. There is no better ROI for us than social media. Nothing comes close."

The hosts, Briana and Steve, have done 800+ deals. 

The attendees pressed further. 

They wanted to know how. 

Briana goes into detail:

"I have tried PPC, ads, mailers, cold email, cold calls, SEO, Google ads, local groups, and networking over the past 5 years. Social media has the highest ROI for us."

She continues, 

"If you want to do it, you need a strategy. We have a content calendar. We know what types of videos we have to make each week to bring in leads." 

This social media thing is not going anywhere. 

Remember websites? It's like that, but bigger. 

And everybody knows they need to do it. 

#socialmedia 

PS: Is social media a nice-to-have or a need-to-have for your business?

Every time I get on our monthly call, my business coach asks: “What are you grateful for?”

Last month, it was the ability to slow down.

What I thought was “slowing down” was just stopping the things I truly needed to do to keep progressing.

Fishing, golf and going to the gym are not leisure activities. They are work. The mind works even when you’re not working!

So don’t slow down, just keep doing everything you need to do to keep the engine running, including your “side hobbies” and extracurriculars.

They are curricular.

NOTHING worth doing is a “bonus.”

Everything works together to create you.

Here are many photos from the last few months that haven’t seen the light of day.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading! 🦃

#grateful

#grateful

David and Paul launched a podcast after a friend suggested it. 46 months later, here are the results👇

• 427,000 views
• 155,000 downloads
• 75% of their leads from the podcast

We spent 2 months designing this. Dave and Paul had no PR, press, ads, or massive built-in audience, so the strategy here was key. While most life insurance podcasts sounded like a textbook, they brought a new format, personality, and energy. Now, 3000 people tune in every month.

So now the question for you:

"What does it cost if you 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 launch a podcast?" 

There's an opportunity cost to everything in business.

🎤 → Find the full episode in my comment below

And big thanks to Dave and Paul for joining me 🙏
_________________
#podcastprinciples

PS: Dave and Paul are seeing 15,000 views per month.

We want you do the same, but for free, so we're giving away $13,750 of free strategy, editing, and design. 

Want in? Just sign up here to receive the deal on Black Friday - https://lnkd.in/eQEEgeDt

If you can imagine speaking to an audience of hundreds or thousands of prospects every week, you can become a podcaster.

And most importantly, they trust you.

That’s the power of video podcasting. 

→ "So how does it work?"

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺

4️⃣ Podcast Episodes Per Month
5️⃣ Clips Per Episode
1️⃣ Social Post Per Day

Simple.

You don't have to give yourself more jobs when the content can do the work for you.

Your clients already listen to podcasts; it might as well be yours! 

#contentstrategy 

PS: Would you start a podcast, or do you think it's already too saturated?

The average LinkedIn user has 25 video editors in their network. Here's how to hire the right one👇

Stop hunting for an editor.

Lure them in with content. 
 
🎯 Post videos consistently. 

Good editors will DM you, asking to edit your videos. Most of the people on our team came to me first with, “Hey, I edit. Want a sample?” Sample them, go from there. 
 
🤝 Work your network. 

Ask every podcast host you know: “Who’s producing your show?” Most producers juggle 5–10 podcasts. If they’re good, they can probably take one more.
 
🧪 Give a test, not a thesis. 

Share 3–5 minutes of raw video. 

Ask for:  

• a clean edit  
• a title and thumbnail idea  
• 2 short clips with captions  

Turnaround in 48–72 hours. 

You’ll know fast.
 
✅ Good: Proactive, asks questions, offers a sample.  
❌ Bad: Misses the first deadline, uses AI for captions
 
Bottom line: publish, attract, filter, hire.  

Let your content pull the right people to you.
 
#hiring

People say podcasting is saturated, and then post on a platform with a billion users.

We all know what is actually saturated ⤵

▶  LinkedIn
▶  YouTube
▶  Facebook
▶  Instagram
▶  Tiktok

If podcasting as a medium is saturated, that means all social media is too. And you're still here. 

We all wish we were making content on YouTube when there were only 3 million users. 

That's how it feels with podcasting right now.

Only 500,000 active podcasts. 

It's just the beginning. 

Get in! 
___________
#podcastprinciples

YouTube is giving away views like candy. 
And the best part is, it's 100% free. 

Your first 20 videos are on us. 

(see photo for client results)

If you're waiting to start and finally want to get some views, we'll help you. 

How to get started: 

For Black Friday, I’m giving the first month 100% free to 5 people who commit to 3 months.
 
90 days is all it takes to hit that 10,000 views per month mark, and we'll help you get there. 

All you have to do is sign up using the link in the first comment. 

Get in there! 

#blackfriday 

PS: Every single screenshot here is from today, 11/26. These are real, 100% organic non-GMO results. 0 paid ads, just strategy and consistency.

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The Battle

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Ryan R. Sullivan

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