222: How Your Past Can Inspire a Better Future Through Storytelling w/ Kevin Brown
Stories are powerful things. Even your own story can uplift, inspire, and make a change. As a filmmaker, you know the value of stories. What you have the power to do is take what others might see as mundane, and make it compelling and extraordinary. I’m so excited to have a guest who uses his own amazing story to show others how to dig deep into their own potential so that they too can become inspirations.
Key Takeaways
Life is full of opportunities to improve and reinvent yourself. To do this, you need to seriously consider your strengths, weaknesses, and how you want to grow as a person and as a professional. If done right, this should be a lifelong process.
No matter what, we all face challenges. Sharing those struggles and your journey while it’s still happening is one of the greatest gifts you can give to others. Doing so communicates the universal nature of struggle and can inspire perseverance in others who need it the most.
About Kevin Brown
Kevin L. Brown is native to the City of Detroit, Michigan. He attributes the majority of his success to his rough and violent childhood, which he details in his literary work entitled Chasing Crows: A True Detroit Success Story, which chronicles his life growing up on Detroit’s eastside, one of the city’s roughest areas.
Kevin joined the Impact Network in 2012, where he is a television producer. He is currently working diligently on creating a documentary about his life journey, as well as a movie entitled “Chasing Crows”.
Kevin believes that his purpose in life is to be sharing his story of passion, perseverance, and hope with the world so that others may understand what they are able to unlock within themselves.
Stories as Vehicles for Positive Change
Through the massive reach of the Impact Network, Kevin creates videos aimed at inspiring others. He recognizes that all people are dreamers, but sometimes we need a little inspiration to recognize and act on those dreams. Videos are a way to connect with people on a meaningful level and show them the potential that they have to accomplish great things.
Kevin’s own life experience has led him to see this value in storytelling. He gets real and vulnerable in this conversation about his numerous past traumas and triumphs. This is a story that is far from over. It is a positive one of hope and resilience that we all can identify with, whether we lived it or not.
Finding Your Purpose and Using It
Throughout it all, Kevin learned countless valuable lessons. He tells us that the only person we should ever compete with is ourselves. We need to understand our strengths and our weaknesses because that allows us to build strong teams and constantly improve.
At the heart of Kevin’s message is that there is purpose in everyone. No matter anybody’s background or current situation, there is still something for us all to accomplish. Kevin describes how to dig deep to discover that purpose so that you can identify it and act on it.
How do your past experiences inspire the stories you tell? What challenges have you overcome (big or small) to become the storyteller you are today? Leave a comment on the episode page!
In This Episode:
- Connecting with amazing people over social media [5:50]
- The power of video to inspire people [9:15]
- How Kevin’s difficult childhood continues to be an inspiration [11:55]
- Why self-discovery and personal improvement are key elements of success [25:25]
- Why purpose is something everyone has [32:48]
Quotes
“I just love the ability to create content - the high of coming up with a concept in your mind, working through it, working through the process, and seeing it actually come to fruition as a picture on the screen and working with like-minded people and creating something that people can benefit from.” [11:02]
“Regardless of what you go through, regardless of what people think about you, you have to believe in yourself. You cannot compete with nobody but the person you were yesterday.” [25:44]
“I hope everyone here understands that they have a purpose in life, that regardless of where you come from, how much money you have, your economic disposition, social status…there is purpose in you.” [33:55]
Links:
Join the Grow Your Video Business Facebook group
Get Access To The Client Budget Workshop
Follow Kevin on Instagram | Linkedin
Chasing Crows: A True Detroit Success Story
Additional Links:
Check out the full show notes page
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