From Street Eats to Strategic Branding: Lessons in Entrepreneurship

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back. This is your host of Cherokee Business Radio Joshua Kornitsky. Professional EOS implementer. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc.. Please go check them out at diesel.david.com. Well welcome back. We’re happy to have everybody join us today. It’s another exciting episode and I am thrilled to introduce Laura and Eric Hart, the owners of Gaston Street Eats. Good morning Laura, Eric.

Erik Hart: Good morning.

Laura Ann Hart: Good morning.

Joshua Kornitsky: How are you guys doing today?

Laura Ann Hart: We’re doing good. It’s awesome. Yeah, we’re excited to be here.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m happy to have you guys here, and I think. I hope y’all have fun. So tell me, what is Gaston Street Eats?

Laura Ann Hart: We are a food truck and catering company that literally goes almost all over Georgia.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, okay.

Laura Ann Hart: We have diverse menus. We are very inclusive for dietary restrictions. Do you want to jump in?

Erik Hart: No. You’re doing a great job.

Laura Ann Hart: We just. We have a lot of fun with our business.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, that sounds great. What? What brought you to the land of of catering and food trucks.

Laura Ann Hart: Oh, by way of a restaurant.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Laura Ann Hart: Brought us this way. The short. The really short short version on that was we. My husband came home one day from corporate America and said, I can’t do it anymore.

Erik Hart: I was done.

Laura Ann Hart: And I’m like, you’re kidding, right?

Erik Hart: No, it was dead serious.

Laura Ann Hart: So he said, I’m I’m done. You’re going to end up burying me if I don’t get rid of this level of stress. And of course, we go into restaurants, right? With that stress.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. There’s no stress.

Laura Ann Hart: There. Of course not.

Joshua Kornitsky: So low effort, high margin.

Erik Hart: Absolutely. Yeah. Staff always shows up on time remotely.

Joshua Kornitsky: No problems.

Erik Hart: At all.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah. So we spent he spent the next two years with me. I had a marketing company at the time. Okay. And then one day I said we were sitting across a table going over some marketing, uh, ads, and I said, baby, it’s time.

Erik Hart: It was actually the best two years of my life. I got to sit around, drink coffee, and help. That’s awesome. It was. It was awesome.

Laura Ann Hart: But I. I said, honey, it’s time you got to go do something.

Erik Hart: I was stressing her out.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah, he was.

Joshua Kornitsky: But you weren’t stressed anymore. No, no. He wasn’t.

Erik Hart: It was unplugged.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s the great. It’s the great balancing of the scales.

Laura Ann Hart: So, um, he’s. We saw a franchise on Shark Tank getting started, so we jumped in. Submitted our application for Tom and key. And the next thing I know, we’re building a restaurant.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow.

Laura Ann Hart: And got it built in six months. Opened the doors. We thought this was going to be fabulous.

Erik Hart: Oh, yeah. Ten stores inside of 2 or 3 years.

Laura Ann Hart: That was our.

Erik Hart: Goal. That was.

Joshua Kornitsky: And what was the approximate date on this 2013? Okay.

Laura Ann Hart: So, um, 2014 is when we opened. Yeah. Somewhere in there. Yeah. Signed the papers in 2013. Opened in 2014. And it was great for the first two years. Right. And then, of course, you realize grilled cheese and a restaurant is not really a good concept.

Erik Hart: It was more of a novelty than.

Joshua Kornitsky: Absolutely to tell you that my family enjoyed it. Yes.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah. I mean, it was great. The food was excellent, but it’s not sustainable. Okay, so.

Erik Hart: We lost the Shark tank bubble, right? Is when things started to go downhill a little bit.

Laura Ann Hart: So the next couple of years we we struggled along literally. Um, and we were. Intuitive enough. I think is the word I’m looking for. When we wrote our franchise agreement, we said we could open a food truck anytime.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Laura Ann Hart: So that was already in our contract. So literally we found a truck.

Erik Hart: In Kennesaw.

Laura Ann Hart: In Kennesaw in December, wrote the insurance policy in the parking lot of Home Depot and drove that sucker back to the store.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Laura Ann Hart: And then got it launched, uh, four months later. Of course, it ended up with a ton of stuff. But anyways, jumping forward, we that’s where our first exposure with the food truck came. Right. And it got to a point that the truck was outpacing the restaurant. The truck was supporting the restaurant.

Joshua Kornitsky: Really?

Laura Ann Hart: So we’re like, okay, something’s going on here. Well, of course, Covid hits and we had a tough decision. What are we going to do? Are we going to stay with the restaurant or are we going to go food truck only? And the part I, I kind of jumped over is that in 2020 we decided to launch. We were having such great success with the truck. We decided to launch our own brand, Gaston, the Southern Comfort Truck. Okay, so we had that one running during Covid and then 2021, we closed the restaurant, kept the space, converted it to a commercial kitchen, and launched the cheesy truck.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so now there’s two trucks.

Laura Ann Hart: There’s two trucks, and then we’re in the process of building a third. And honestly, Eric and I are developmentally where I’m thinking we need to go coffee and dessert. He’s thinking we need to go more burgers and what have you.

Erik Hart: But we’re negotiating.

Laura Ann Hart: We’re negotiating.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, the good news is, I think that there’s room for both. There is. And who knows?

Laura Ann Hart: Maybe I need to get another.

Joshua Kornitsky: Truck right down the road. There’s your solution. It is. You don’t have to pick one. Pick both. Um, as as an old boss of mine. You say all it takes is money.

Laura Ann Hart: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. So it sounds like it’s been quite a journey. Is this has all come together. And did either of you have food truck experience when you jumped off that cliff?

Laura Ann Hart: No no no no no no no.

Erik Hart: We learned this business the hard way.

Laura Ann Hart: And our first event was with, um. It’s called The Grove now, but at the time it was Piney Grove Church. They changed their name and a very good friend of ours, uh, Pastor Dallas White, he brought us out for that was our very first event. And we totally we did. But who better than with a pastor? Because when it was all over, he goes, we need to pray.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. Well, there you go.

Laura Ann Hart: He got us together and did this little huddle and prayed for our business and for it, and we figured it out. We did a lot of trial and error, but we got it.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s amazing that people always, always have to learn from messing up. But that’s that’s how we as humans are. If it all came easy, there’d be 30 trucks on every corner. And for a brief period of time, there were. But it turned out it was a pretty hard business to get into.

Erik Hart: Yeah, most trucks don’t make it very long.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I imagine that that the, um, the process of designing and settling on your menus probably was that same trial and error. Or did you already know from the restaurant experience? What was a good mover?

Erik Hart: Well, the cheesy truck was an easy solution because we just, you know, modified the recipes from what we were doing before and we just continued to execute at a very high level with great ingredients. And that set the foundation for the menu on the cheesy truck. Now, Gaston was more of a love of food that Laura and I share. Go ahead.

Laura Ann Hart: No you won’t. Um, the thing with Gaston was we have a little bed in breakfast in Savannah called, uh, the Gastonia.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Laura Ann Hart: And Eric and I would go there once, twice a year, just, you know, to get away for a couple of days. And, of course, we would eat our way through Savannah. Who doesn’t when you’re down there? I mean, there’s the food is just amazing. So it was a combination of things that we really liked. And then, honestly, it was from a very dear friend of ours, Melissa Bailey, who was with Remax here in, uh, canton. She’s in canton, right. Um, at the time, she worked for.

Erik Hart: Cisco.

Laura Ann Hart: Cisco. And so she got us with a chef with chef Tom, which I think he’s local as well. Yes. And I, we put everything on paper and said, here you go, chef. Tom, this is what we want. Help us build this menu. He goes got it. Came back to us a month later. Down at the Cisco Kitchen and said let’s go through everything. And then gosh, two weeks later he met with Eric and then they built the recipes. So it was, I think, the beautiful thing about this whole thing that we’ve put together. Everywhere you look, there was a piece of community.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I want to.

Laura Ann Hart: Get.

Joshua Kornitsky: To that, and I want to get to that, because you had shared with me that that just in the last year you guys had received a couple of awards. We did. So share those with us because I have some questions.

Laura Ann Hart: Sure. Um, 2023, we got, um, cob chamber, uh, top three business to watch because we were just coming on the scene with the new with the new concept and what have you. And then last this year for 2025, we got the top 25 businesses in Cobb County.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic.

Laura Ann Hart: And then Tommy Nobis, uh, honored us with, uh, the Community champion award for this year.

Joshua Kornitsky: So yeah, that speaks.

Laura Ann Hart: Very.

Joshua Kornitsky: Humbling of, of of the way that you’re working and the types of things that you’re doing. And, and I want to talk more about that. But I want to clarify one thing because when you say food truck, I’m not sure that everybody understands there are more than one type of food truck business. Right. And, and are you the show up at the concert and the fair type of food truck or how where does your business come from? And I’ll circle back on community, but I feel like it’s important to clarify that.

Laura Ann Hart: That’s a great question. Here’s the the wonderful thing about the food truck industry. You can run it any way you want, right? But I know me. I’m a control freak, hands down. I do not want to sit on a curb and wait. Wait for someone to arrive. I can’t, I can’t do it.

Joshua Kornitsky: The ice cream man model.

Laura Ann Hart: Absolutely. And the thing is that that’s not such a great model. Especially if you are supporting staff in family and obligations. So what we did was we kind of flipped it a little bit and went commercial in a sense with corporate catering. Um, you hire me for employee appreciation anniversary celebrations, birthdays in 80, 85% of our business. Is that.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. So it’s much more predictable. Absolutely. You know.

Laura Ann Hart: Before we go out, how many people were serving what your menu is? Everything’s done. We’re ready. And that has allowed us to grow.

Erik Hart: And on the business side, it also helps us control costs.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yes. Well, sure. Because you you had mentioned in passing that your that your dietary, uh, fulfillment aspect. I’m trying to find the right way to say that, but that you’re very accommodating to different needs of the people that are getting food from you. Isn’t that.

Laura Ann Hart: Yes. That’s really big for us. Whether you’re eating on the Gaston truck or you’re eating on the cheesy truck. We want you. And I think it’s one of our taglines. We feed everyone, okay. We really, really can. Um, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian meat eaters, baby. You know, kids. I mean, we’ve got something for you and whatever. Yeah. We modify menus for no pork, no. No meat, no meat. I mean, we can do this on both Gaston and Cheesy. Everybody should be able to enjoy a food truck experience.

Joshua Kornitsky: So, I mean, I think that that’s incredibly, um, cognizant of of who you’re serving, right. Because a lot of, uh, just thinking in a generic food services, uh, thought process, you know, restaurants are often this is what we have, right? Uh, and to take that consideration on the front end, I think is fantastic and again, kind of speaks to your community service because you’re serving everybody in the community.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah. What? It would be terrible if you were an employee at one of these companies. And we show up for your employee appreciation and there’s nothing for you.

Joshua Kornitsky: You’re not appreciated.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah, exactly. You’re not appreciated. There’s nothing for you to eat. So it is one of those questions we do ask our clients. Is there something we need to know? We’ve got one right now where we’ve got to pull all the shellfish off Gaston for their menu, and we’re just replacing it with different items.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s great that you’ve got that flexibility.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so if you’re comfortable, who are some of the types of businesses you serve? And because you’re 85% leaning in in that direction, I want anybody that’s listening to know, you know what what size organizations can you help? What types of businesses are you typically working with?

Laura Ann Hart: We work with all kinds of businesses. We have, you know.

Erik Hart: Manufacturing sector, retail sector, homebuilders, you name it, we’ve been there. Movie sets. Um, we’ve done a lot of stuff for Netflix. Um, Universal Studios.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, so not not mom and pop or not.

Erik Hart: Oh, no no, no.

Laura Ann Hart: Well we do we do what we do, mom and pop too. I think the thing is, um, there’s so much diversity with what we do because of the. And this is where Eric is just really, really excels from his previous experience. He’s the director of operations. He understands that speed of service.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right.

Laura Ann Hart: We don’t want you waiting an hour in line. I want you to fellowship, enjoy your friends, talk with your coworkers, have time to eat your lunch or dinner.

Erik Hart: And yeah, everything we do as far as menu development, truck layout, staffing, training, everything is geared towards executing those menus as quickly as possible so that if we have, you know, 200 people to feed, we can get it done. And that’s, you know, that’s that’s one of our selling points when we’re dealing with these larger clients.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And that makes perfect sense because it’s it’s going to let them know that bringing you in for an hour and a half on site, that you’re going to feed everybody, rather than just having everybody waiting to take their stuff back to their desk.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah, there’s nothing worse.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s a waste of effort, time, and that if you’re doing it for goodwill, you lose the goodwill that you’re at. You do. So I think that what you’re the the the very operational approach, the very strategic approach to something that is often a passion project with less of a business sense versus you guys approaching it like a business is, is pretty remarkable, and it’s making a pretty big difference. But this allows me to kind of open the door and come back, because you are looking at this as a business, what does it mean? How do you help your employees kind of look towards the future and be prepared, because obviously you must have pretty rigorous training in order to be able to sustain what you’re doing.

Laura Ann Hart: Yes. Eric. Eric and I, um, the people that come to us are in a very particular stage of their life. They are going there in college, coming out, you know, trying to finish up college. They’re in between. I don’t know if I’m going to go to college. I’m not sure. They’re they’re young. That seems to be what we attract. So very early on, we decided that, you know what? One of the ways that we can give back to this, these kids, I call them kids. They’re just amazing young men and women. The way we can give back is by pouring into them. And so we developed a leadership development program about five years ago.

Erik Hart: While we were still Tom. And we did that program.

Joshua Kornitsky: Pretty remarkable for the type of business you’re in. It’s not can’t be very common.

Erik Hart: It’s all about talent development. Even though we’re only going to get them for 2 or 3 years if we’re lucky. Yep. We’re striving to make sure that they have the tools necessary not only to perform well for us, but to perform in life. And that’s why we we do this quote unquote book club. And we do a book about every, what, 6 to 8 weeks. And, um, we then have a meeting regarding, uh, the discussion points, if you will. And it’s amazing to sit back and watch the eyes, you know, light up as they find that nugget in that discussion to apply it to their own lives. And and in doing so, we get a better team. They work.

Joshua Kornitsky: Absolutely.

Erik Hart: Fantastic with each other, and we’re making a little bit of difference in their lives.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I think that in this kind of circles, this back around, pardon me to the fact that you are so dedicated to the community, you’re actually helping build the community, which is a pretty cool approach for for a business to have. What are some of the other community outreaches that that you’ve done?

Laura Ann Hart: We we were truly, truly and I mean blessed to be able we were we used to have a program where we were doing it once a quarter. It’s what we could afford. Sure. And then we moved into once a month. Um, we’ve been able to do some form of what we call it is a giveback. Okay. And it’s everywhere from we’ll go and feed the police department. We’ll feed fire. We’ll feed, um, Calvary children’s home.

Erik Hart: It wasn’t Calvary our first giveback.

Laura Ann Hart: It was our very first one. So, um, there’s different things that we’re able to do now that we involved our involve our team with where. Here’s the thing if we want. And it was a friend of mine, Michael Everhart, and he’s local as well. Gosh. Everybody’s local. And he had said that if you take care of your backyard and I take care of my backyard. We’ll have a really great community to live in. So this is just taking care of our backyard. Um, by having these things, it’s also teaches our staff about servant leadership, where they can go and take care of their backyard eventually.

Joshua Kornitsky: Resonates very strongly with me. Well, I commend you both because you’re doing something that. Excuse me again. Uh, you’re doing something really remarkable where you’re not just bringing a wonderful product into the marketplace and making it available to people. You’re also really in really working to both improve the community and the people in it. And I, as someone who works with all different sized businesses, that’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to see. And I happen to live in this community. So, so it matters a lot to me. Thank you. That’s fantastic. Well, what let me let me round out by just asking what’s the right size. So if someone’s hearing this and they’re like, yeah, these these folks are great. Their menu, uh, resonates because I’ll be able to feed everybody regardless of their needs. Right. If they want to reach out. What? What makes the most sense? What? What size organization. How many people is is a good fit for you guys to serve?

Laura Ann Hart: Well, I used to think it was anything over 50, but in the last month or so I’ve had people who’s booking me for 20 people. Okay, so I really think it depends on what your goal is. We’ve got a couple events coming up where we’re feeding 400. Well, we fed 150 on Sunday. We fed 225 on Saturday. It just really depends on your occasion.

Erik Hart: And.

Laura Ann Hart: When we have and how you want to celebrate.

Erik Hart: And when we have bigger events, we can just bring both trucks to the same place so we can really accommodate.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that makes sense.

Laura Ann Hart: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the key is, is we stop it accordingly. And that’s all Eric. He’s just I can’t say enough about the operation and I may handle all the other stuff. But if he wasn’t putting together the plan for us to be successful on the ground. This wouldn’t work. So we know with the larger events.

Erik Hart: I have a lot of support. So thank.

Laura Ann Hart: You. You’re welcome. Uh, well, we’ll have 4 or 5 extra. I mean, we’ll bring the extra team again. I don’t want you 400 people. I don’t want you standing in line an hour. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it’s. It’s funny. I had a guest on a few months back, uh, a guy named John Basford, who’s a wonderful coach and teacher and speaker, and I just read an email from him this morning. Backstory. My wife is an operation strategist. That’s what she does. Uh, and in this email that he sent today, it said that marketing may be the rock star, but operations make sure the mic works.

Laura Ann Hart: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I really liked how I like that, how that translated. And it seemed really appropriate here. Well, uh, Eric and Laura, what’s the best way for people to reach you?

Laura Ann Hart: Go ahead, call Laura.

Erik Hart: Yeah.

Laura Ann Hart: Actually we just. And I. And I’m so excited about this. Um, we’ve got so many changes happening this year. We’re investing in infrastructure, investing in our SEO, and we just had websites redone. Um, so honestly, website you could go to Gaston Street, Pets.com or the Cheesy Truck. Com or you can just call me and.

Joshua Kornitsky: And what’s the number?

Laura Ann Hart: My number is (678) 986-9234. Or you can Google grilled cheese truck and we’ll pop up now. There you go.

Joshua Kornitsky: So yeah I will. Obviously we’ll have all of this on our site to to make sure that people know how to get Ahold of you. But I’m glad you shared that with us. Well, Laura and Eric Hart, the owners of Gaston Street Eats, thank you so much for sharing your incredible story with us. Uh, I’ve got another guest here in the studio. I hope you have the ability to to stay with us, because I think you’ll find her, uh, incredible and fascinating. So good morning. It’s my incredible pleasure to introduce Christy Renee Stehle, a magnetic brand storyteller, a strategist, a speaker and a coach. Good morning Kristie.

Christy Renee Stehle: Good morning.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m so happy to have you here. I had the chance to to first meet you at a Kennesaw State family business event where you were on the panel and, and was drawn directly to this, the brand storytelling. Uh, it just blew me away. But tell us a little bit about what you do and how you help folks.

Christy Renee Stehle: Yes, well, I’m a speaker and coach, and I really help brands tell their story to grow their loyal client base, which is incredibly important today in the disrupted market that we’re dealing with humanity, our personal connection, our connection to community is, believe it or not, more valued than it’s ever been in this world of AI. And so I find people having a hard time understanding, well, how do I articulate that humanity from behind a digital screen? Sure. And that’s really where I come in.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, okay. So that’s pretty incredible. What kind of brought you there?

Christy Renee Stehle: You know, believe it or not, I was reflecting on this last night. I had a speech impediment growing up. Really? And I was taken out of school. I was taken out of class to go under the stairs in this converted janitor’s closet and learn how to just sound normal. And having this training where okay, your mouth shape, your tongue placement, it really developed my ear for language. I started to notice more. I started to be more interested in reading in words and communication. And I think that this is also why I have such a good ear for language I’m able to hear. I’m able to form my mouth, and I think that really helps in the articulating of the invisible essence that comes through when somebody shows up. You know, I always say that our energy tells our story before we open our mouth. And, you know, so I’m able to feel that I’m able to sense that and then I’m able to articulate it for others.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it sounds like overcoming the speech impediment was the key to unlocking your superpower of of enhanced perception.

Christy Renee Stehle: And isn’t it interesting how the pain becomes the power?

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, there’s a wonderful line. I’m a big movie guy, so you’ll hear me quote movies all the time. Uh, the line from the movie was simply that the pain will continue until the learning is complete. Uh, and I’ll tell anybody that wants to know the name of the movie, but I don’t want to pollute the discussion with getting off on a movie conversation. So what is it you do to help those you help?

Christy Renee Stehle: There’s a lot that goes into it, to be honest with you. At this stage of my business, I do a lot more than I would recommend that anybody does. Um, but I am very dynamic. I, you know, you guys met me at two different Kennesaw State University events, and it just seems that everybody needs this right now. Whether you’re an event organizer wanting to put together really transformational event, whether you’re an organization scaling and saying, you know, maybe we’ve just merged, there’s a lot of that going on right now. Seven brands going under one umbrella brand. How can we be consistent? And so there are certain patterns that run through whether I’m helping large scale organizations or entrepreneurs. It really still is that okay. We’re going to document very strategically your communication guidelines. So every time you show up you’re being consistent. You know what to say.

Joshua Kornitsky: And to that idea.

Christy Renee Stehle: There’s there’s actually a lot of, uh, strategy behind the format of storytelling. And a lot of times people think, you know, I’m just going to show up and tell my brand story, or how do I even do that? Maybe I’m putting it on an about page of a website, or how do you tell a story in a short amount of time. So there really is structure to that. And I help people develop patterns and and communicate that.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that’s what I really wanted to understand. So what are some of the misconceptions that people have when they come to you. And they’re like, okay, well, you know, my dad started the business and I graduated college and I picked up the business, and that’s the story, you know. What are the misconceptions that people have? How do you help them understand and elicit from them at a high level where their story is?

Christy Renee Stehle: Yeah, I think the biggest misconception is that I can’t tell a story because I don’t have enough time. So I just need to be very direct. I need to focus on our product, our benefits, our features. And that’s really the old way of doing things right now. People need that. Like I said, that humanity, that essence and emotion is actually what triggers memory in the brain. So if you’re able to communicate with emotion Motion. While you’re earning their time and attention, you’re earning their trust. And I was just talking with another local business, and, uh, we were laughing about how, you know, today’s market, you have to tell a compelling story online to even get them to have any interest in giving you their time and attention and showing up to a brick and mortar.

Joshua Kornitsky: I have to imagine that there are statistics somewhere about how long that attention span is that you have to capture them.

Christy Renee Stehle: Do you remember, uh, years ago, we heard that we have an attention span shorter than a goldfish.

Joshua Kornitsky: That I have.

Christy Renee Stehle: That that was years ago. For us, it is half that today.

Joshua Kornitsky: And half a goldfish.

Christy Renee Stehle: It’s half a goldfish. Wow. Which is pretty sad. And if that so, it translates into if we if everything else remain the same and we’re just talking about attention span, we would have to work twice as hard to capture and retain that attention. But everything has not remained the same.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. No, the content is tripling, is constant.

Christy Renee Stehle: Volume has tripled year over year in the last three years.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s an AI and the content length has reduced probably by a factor of three, I would guess.

Christy Renee Stehle: Yes, and very interesting. I’m seeing long form content coming back. We’re on the flip side of that. So you see things like Substack where people are having long form content. You’re seeing Instagram Reels went from 90s. They’re now allowing two minutes. Tick tock. That’s good news. Would allow up to ten minutes. So people are giving attention more. But two things that are worthy and that is very important. How do you communicate your value in the first few seconds to get people to buy in, to get people to watch longer form content?

Joshua Kornitsky: So I’m going to ask a question that that is an oversimplification, right? But is it as is it formulaic or does it have to be tailored when you work with your clients. Is there a a b c d e? And we have a successful story. Or do you have to work with them and elicit from them. Sort of the the origin and the development and understand it as an arc.

Christy Renee Stehle: Both both are absolutely true. There is a formulaic structure to it. But in order for me to get that data that goes into the structure, we need to have a conversation. And I laugh a lot. People think, wow, Christie, you did such a great job. You articulated it so well. This is so amazing. Like you, you did it. You know, you gave me all of those data points, and then I just helped put it in that structure.

Joshua Kornitsky: I understand that completely because oftentimes the the genius is in the room and it’s their genius. You’re just helping them. Get it out.

Christy Renee Stehle: We all have blind spots when it comes to our unique gifts. And for brands, it tends to be, I don’t know our value. I don’t know how to articulate our value, what makes us different? And in a very short conversation, we’re able to see, you know, an amazing example as an automotive company in our local community who takes care of their customers as if they were a trusted advisor. They are the chick fil A of automotive and they could not see that. Like, wait a minute. Every automotive place is trying to scam us. You’re taking care of us. That’s your unique distinguishing. And we replace their elevator pitch in 15 minutes flat.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. And has it resonated?

Christy Renee Stehle: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. You can see I actually put it on my my Instagram account, I featured them. I was so taken with their story that now I’m featuring them and referring them. And here I am talking about it on a radio show.

Joshua Kornitsky: So because you dropped it, what? How do how do people find you on Instagram?

Christy Renee Stehle: As Christy sees it, it is my it is my legacy account from when I traveled the world, my perspective, and as a brand advisor, I would I would really recommend being the same on every platform. And I’m breaking my own rules, but I cannot. I’m not ready to let it go.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so you wait. You traveled the world?

Christy Renee Stehle: Yes I did.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, did you learn anything in that little adventure?

Christy Renee Stehle: Oh my gosh. Yes. Well, in 2015, I overcame chronic illness and realized that health is our greatest wealth and time is our most valuable resource. So I heard a parable. You may know the one it says, imagine you have $86,400 deposited into your bank account every day. Okay, you have to use it or you lose it the next day. Nothing transfers over. You can’t get that money back. You have to use it all. Well, it goes on to say, surprise, we have 86,400 seconds in a day, and if you don’t use it, you will lose it. And I can remember standing on my front porch in Florida feeling better than I had felt in years. For the first time, I had full body chills. And I remember thinking, you know what? I’m not. I’m losing it. I’m not using it. Right? So I sold my house and everything I owned, and I traveled for five years across 35 countries. Holy cow. So I’ve learned quite a few things in that time. The most important being do the things that make you feel alive. Don’t get stuck and communicating with others.

Christy Renee Stehle: That’s really where I started to refine this skill of communicating with energy. The amount of times I’ve been in a country where maybe I know, thank you as my only word, and I’ve studied for that and been able to communicate and get my needs met no matter what, is something I’ve started to take for granted. And I was in Montreal a couple of weeks ago, and I was with one of my friends, and now I don’t speak French at all. I have maybe five words. I leverage them very well during my time, but I did not know how to ask. Wait, where’s a wine shop? So I was able to have that conversation with a cashier. She spoke no English, I spoke no French, and my friend was just standing here. And as I turned around after I found out, okay, there’s a wine in the complex of five minutes down the road. She looked at me and she’s like, that’s very impressive of both of you. How did you do that? It’s like, well, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s, well, you find a way to communicate that. Absolutely. That’s fantastic. And I think you just answered the next thing that I was going to ask you, which is what drives you, what is why are you so passionate about what you do? It sounds to me like the the ticking seconds are a piece of that. What else? What else gets you excited about the work you do?

Christy Renee Stehle: Yes. Well, definitely. Like you said, I’m excited about using my time here on Earth in a very fulfilling way. But that also comes down to connection, you know, and and community, which I know we’ve talked about earlier and, you know, at the end of five years traveling abroad, being in a different city or country every week, it all started to feel as amazing as that experience was. It all started to feel a bit empty, and I really was craving connection and community at a level of these. People have seen me grow through different stages of life. Right there, here. There’s a certain realness to that. And so I came home to Marietta, Georgia, a place that none of us ever thought I would return in a.

Joshua Kornitsky: After a 35 country tour. I, I would think it’d be the last place on my mind.

Christy Renee Stehle: Well, every hero’s journey.

Joshua Kornitsky: Comes.

Christy Renee Stehle: Home. Comes home. And I really felt very called to share everything that I have learned with my community. And just as we were talking about earlier, you know, when you do take care of your backyard, when you do invest in your community, well, our communities determine the quality of our lives. And I’ve seen countries like Cambodia just wrecked by tragedy, that tragedy, and have absolutely nothing. And they’re the happiest people. They’re the most grateful, they’re the happiest, and they have these very rich communities. And so that’s what really started to change in my mind of like, wait a minute. We I kind of grew up with everything and I don’t feel this appreciate it. I don’t feel this grateful, and it really started to shift my mind into what really matters.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and it sounds like I mean, obviously we all have to eat, we all have to pay our bills. But it sounds like this is more than about money for you.

Christy Renee Stehle: Absolutely. I have made a lot of money in my life and I’ve been broken my life. And at the end of it, yes, profit does help get your message out there. Obviously, we have to take care of ourselves. It’s a big part of that. But it’s not the driving factor and fulfillment and connection and community. And, you know.

Joshua Kornitsky: There’s there’s a whole lot more to it than money.

Christy Renee Stehle: There is.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Well, Christi, what’s next? Where are you? Still traveling? Um, are you working around the world? What are you doing?

Christy Renee Stehle: Well, immediately next, on August 22nd, I will be the opening keynote speaker at the Kennesaw Business Association Super Women’s Conference. Wonderful. So I will be talking about how to leverage what I call magnetic presence for impossible growth, to be able to increase your status and your importance and your fulfillment in life. And after that, I am off to Vegas. I did just win a very prestigious award, but I’m sure it is still, um, having me a little like, wow, did that really just happen? But I won the 2025 Smart Meetings Best of Stage award. I am in the Life Changers category, across from four time Olympian athletes and keynote speakers and some global head of events. And I’m heading to Vegas for the VIP party to get to celebrate.

Joshua Kornitsky: And speaking for watching, uh, the folks in the room, it. I can tell you that you definitely seem to inspire, myself included. Uh, it is really a joy to have you here, and you deserve that award. Congratulations.

Christy Renee Stehle: You so much.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. Um, if people want to understand better the value of what you offer, whether as a speaker or as a storyteller or as a coach, how do people reach you?

Christy Renee Stehle: Well, I am on all the social media platforms, but the easiest way to find me since I am breaking my own rules. There is my website christy.com. You can learn about my speaking, my coaching, all of the past case studies that I’ve done and see really yourself in some of the organizations that I’ve worked with, you know, I’ve worked with Claire’s, who went from bankruptcy to 51% growth in a single year while I helped them develop a new voice for a new generation. So I’ve got a lot of stories and companies that I’ve worked with on my website. You can check it out.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. And is that part of when when you have a speaking engagement, obviously they probably ask you to talk about certain things, but I have to believe that must be part of your overall story, those that you’ve helped.

Christy Renee Stehle: Well, of course, of course, of course.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s just I’m privy because you shared some of them with me that, that, um, it is the stories that you tell that truly empower people to get to know you better. Uh, and, and I would encourage you if you would. Is there one more you could share with us.

Christy Renee Stehle: Well, yes. And before I do, you know, on that, um, I think the true gift of strategic storytelling is selling, telling a story that your audience feels seen and understood in hearing that story. And I think that that really is the goal. And so, yes, I do talk about the successes that I have, but sometimes I can get plugged into an energy of a room and just start talking about great transformation. And, um, sometimes that takes on a different form. But yes, I have worked with LTL freight as well. They were my favorite company to work with, and the rest of my team was always like, Christie, this is a great company. Why are you excited about this? This is so boring. But I love them because they had what I call alignment internal and external alignment. So that just means that they do what they say they they do, they take care of that. But it’s a radical concept today. They take care of their employees, they take care of their customers. And because of that, telling their brand story was very fun. You know, they.

Joshua Kornitsky: Had.

Christy Renee Stehle: It was versus some of the other companies that would come through and not really have that data. They don’t have ways that they’re doing good. And they would just say, well, we we do good in the community. Um, do you can I have some examples, please. And specificity is always the key. Um, so I think that, you know, leave with that little nugget when you’re trying to.

Joshua Kornitsky: Tell.

Christy Renee Stehle: There’s, there’s a nugget. There’s there’s a nugget here. Yes. I think that it’s very easy. One of the biggest mistakes is I see generic messaging all of the time. Well, we make.

Joshua Kornitsky: An appeal to all.

Christy Renee Stehle: People. And when you’re, when you. Yeah, when you speak, when you try to speak to everybody, you’re heard by no one.

Joshua Kornitsky: That that’s a great closure. Thank you Christie. So I mean, just a wonderful, wonderful show today. Thank you again, Christie Renee Steely magnetic storyteller, strategist, speaker and coach. Thank you again. Laura and Eric Hart, the owners of Gaston Street Eats. Um, just a great show. Thank you guys all for being here, for giving your time and sharing your knowledge and experience. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I am the host of Cherokee Business Radio. I’m also a professional implementer of the EOS system, and I just want to remind everybody that today’s episode was brought to you in part by the Community Partner Program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc.. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Thank you guys again for joining me here today. Thank you for listening. We’ll see you next time.