WEBVTT 00:00:11.708 --> 00:00:13.754 - I think it's only fair to start, though, 00:00:13.754 --> 00:00:16.469 by telling you that, as Rob said, 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:20.816 as a storytelling consultant, where this all began. 00:00:20.816 --> 00:00:24.613 And, the truth is, I told my very first story 00:00:24.613 --> 00:00:28.102 when I was 11 years old in fifth grade. 00:00:28.102 --> 00:00:30.072 Now, I have to admit, fifth grade 00:00:30.072 --> 00:00:34.718 was not a great year for me for several different reasons. 00:00:34.718 --> 00:00:36.924 The first of which is I was recovering 00:00:36.924 --> 00:00:41.198 from this really bad haircut from fourth grade. 00:00:41.198 --> 00:00:43.646 Do any of you remember the movie "Hook," 00:00:43.646 --> 00:00:45.815 you know, with Robin Williams and Julia Roberts. 00:00:45.815 --> 00:00:49.176 So, Julia Roberts played the pixie in the movie, 00:00:49.176 --> 00:00:51.367 and she had this really short haircut. 00:00:51.367 --> 00:00:53.879 That was a wig because Julia Roberts 00:00:53.879 --> 00:00:56.533 would never cut her hair like that, 00:00:56.533 --> 00:00:58.293 but my mom thought that cut 00:00:58.293 --> 00:01:00.665 would look great on my bone structure. 00:01:00.665 --> 00:01:03.924 Now, when you're an 11-year-old girl, 00:01:03.924 --> 00:01:06.281 the only way anyone knows you're a girl 00:01:06.281 --> 00:01:09.576 is by your long hair so I spent the entire summer 00:01:09.576 --> 00:01:12.888 explaining to people that I was indeed a female. 00:01:12.888 --> 00:01:14.489 It was terribly embarrassing. 00:01:14.489 --> 00:01:16.498 A horrible way to start the year. 00:01:16.498 --> 00:01:18.010 Now, the second reason fifth grade 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:19.703 wasn't so great for me was because 00:01:19.703 --> 00:01:21.120 I had Mrs. Sprain 00:01:23.527 --> 00:01:26.336 for a fifth grade teacher, 00:01:26.336 --> 00:01:30.012 and she was known as the meanest teacher 00:01:30.012 --> 00:01:32.414 at all of Lakeside Elementary School. 00:01:32.414 --> 00:01:34.188 How many of you had one of those? 00:01:34.188 --> 00:01:35.277 Yes. 00:01:35.277 --> 00:01:38.385 It really just meant that she was the oldest one. 00:01:38.385 --> 00:01:39.695 (laughs) 00:01:39.695 --> 00:01:41.082 Old people get a bad rap. 00:01:41.082 --> 00:01:42.313 It's really unfortunate. 00:01:42.313 --> 00:01:44.761 But, I had Mrs. Sprain for a fifth grade teacher, 00:01:44.761 --> 00:01:48.144 and I knew it was going to be a miserable year. 00:01:48.144 --> 00:01:51.827 But really the worst thing about fifth grade 00:01:51.827 --> 00:01:55.577 was that I kind of hated my very best friend. 00:01:57.803 --> 00:02:00.485 Have any of you been there before? 00:02:00.485 --> 00:02:04.568 I, mean, I loved her because she was magnificent, 00:02:05.481 --> 00:02:10.170 but I hated her because she was so magnificent. 00:02:10.170 --> 00:02:12.527 It seemed no matter what I did, 00:02:12.527 --> 00:02:16.513 I could not get out from behind her shadow. 00:02:16.513 --> 00:02:19.295 Now, first of all, she was absolutely gorgeous. 00:02:19.295 --> 00:02:21.712 She had this long blond hair. 00:02:23.027 --> 00:02:24.570 Something I did not have. 00:02:24.570 --> 00:02:26.881 Mine was short thanks to my mother. 00:02:26.881 --> 00:02:28.818 And she had these big brown eyes 00:02:28.818 --> 00:02:31.813 that could turn green when she needed them to. 00:02:31.813 --> 00:02:33.597 It was really annoying. 00:02:33.597 --> 00:02:34.918 And all the girls loved her 00:02:34.918 --> 00:02:37.213 because she was smart, and she was funny. 00:02:37.213 --> 00:02:38.046 And the teachers loved her 00:02:38.046 --> 00:02:40.661 because she was engaged, and she was creative. 00:02:40.661 --> 00:02:42.489 And, I swear, if the fifth grade boys 00:02:42.489 --> 00:02:43.955 could have gone to a tattoo shop 00:02:43.955 --> 00:02:46.961 and had her name tattooed across their arm 00:02:46.961 --> 00:02:51.765 they all would have because even her name was perfect. 00:02:51.765 --> 00:02:52.598 Molly. 00:02:53.766 --> 00:02:56.266 Molly, and my name was Kindra. 00:02:57.382 --> 00:02:58.957 (audience laughs) 00:02:58.957 --> 00:03:02.717 I remember... I remember walking down those 00:03:02.717 --> 00:03:05.796 wide elementary school hallways 00:03:05.796 --> 00:03:08.801 side by side with my best friend 00:03:08.801 --> 00:03:10.997 when the principal came walking towards us. 00:03:10.997 --> 00:03:13.572 The most powerful man in the school. 00:03:13.572 --> 00:03:16.190 And, as he approached, he did the same thing 00:03:16.190 --> 00:03:19.034 every single time, and now that I think about it, 00:03:19.034 --> 00:03:22.176 was probably against the Code of Conduct, 00:03:22.176 --> 00:03:24.182 but at the time I didn't notice it. 00:03:24.182 --> 00:03:25.015 He would go like this. 00:03:25.015 --> 00:03:27.717 He would go, "Hey, Molly, Molly," 00:03:27.717 --> 00:03:31.009 and do this little hip-finger-wiggle-point thing. 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:32.847 (audience laughs) 00:03:32.847 --> 00:03:35.847 And, then he would just keep walking 00:03:37.525 --> 00:03:39.608 like I wasn't even there. 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:43.636 Now, I don't know if any of you 00:03:43.636 --> 00:03:45.589 have ever felt that way. 00:03:45.589 --> 00:03:48.256 Maybe not about your best friend 00:03:49.565 --> 00:03:51.779 but about brands, 00:03:51.779 --> 00:03:52.696 or content, 00:03:53.778 --> 00:03:58.028 or others who, just for whatever reason, stand out. 00:03:59.322 --> 00:04:02.147 And, you are stuck somewhere lurking in the shadows. 00:04:02.147 --> 00:04:03.289 Now, let's make it clear. 00:04:03.289 --> 00:04:05.514 I knew I had cool things to offer. 00:04:05.514 --> 00:04:08.933 I just didn't know how to make that known. 00:04:08.933 --> 00:04:11.382 Now, the truth is I never really did figure out 00:04:11.382 --> 00:04:14.099 what it was about Molly that made her so awesome. 00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:19.056 And, in case you're wondering, she is still awesome. 00:04:19.056 --> 00:04:21.556 But, I did find a work-around. 00:04:22.830 --> 00:04:26.014 You see, that very same year, my fifth grade year, 00:04:26.014 --> 00:04:27.949 I grew up in Minnesota. 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:29.867 Any of you from Minnesota? 00:04:29.867 --> 00:04:31.595 No? Okay, it was a good place. 00:04:31.595 --> 00:04:33.575 One - yes, chilly. 00:04:33.575 --> 00:04:35.322 It's a chilly place. 00:04:35.322 --> 00:04:36.889 And, so, in the springtime 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:39.109 it was really difficult to keep our attention 00:04:39.109 --> 00:04:40.378 because we're seeing the sun 00:04:40.378 --> 00:04:43.105 for the first time in, like, eight months, right? 00:04:43.105 --> 00:04:45.265 But Mrs. Sprain had been doing this for, like, 00:04:45.265 --> 00:04:49.542 100 years, and she had this great strategy. 00:04:49.542 --> 00:04:52.375 We were all to learn storytelling.