Story In A Bottle Podcast

Rob Markman is the storyteller’s storyteller. Growing up in the in the heart of the cultural epicenter that was Brooklyn in the 80s & 90s, during the birth of rap music, he was hooked on to the genre early on. However, when his friends’ interests halted at memorizing the lyrics to Slick Rick or Kris Kross, he dug deeper. As he continued to mature, he did so alongside the music, eventually taking a chance on open mic nights and battling in lower Manhattan. Over Hennessey and Cokes, he tells us that at the core of this obsession has always been clear: to change the culture of how we talk about music and his innate drive to investigate the meaning and influence of each track in an encyclopedic manner. It makes sense then that as he entered into the professional world “journalism chose him” and he made a name for himself in the industry as Senior Hip-Hop editor for MTV (and also noted as one of BK Mag’s Most Influential 100). Now, as Artist Relations Manager at Genius, he’s even closer to realizing his goals than ever before, bridging the gap between artists and fans and helping to bring the heart of the story back to the forefront of the conversation.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The pros and cons of technology’s influence on the music industry.
  • How your passion can become your career in ways you may not have expected.
  • Why in a creative industry, the true star should be the work and not necessarily the artist.

Photo credit: Daniel Dorsa

Direct download: SIAB_RMarkman_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:18am EDT

Maddy Maxey boasts a career path that spans a variety roles and industries - from Tommy Hilfiger to General Assembly she has covered the fashion and technology realms with fluidity and ease, and at 23, it’s only just the beginning. It’s a background that has not only returned high recognition like being listed as one of Forbes 30 Under 30, but has also  provided her the experience to recognize and carve out a unique intersection of the two industries - and led to the founding of her company, the Crated. Focusing on cutting-edge innovation, her company collaborates with others in the space to further the offering of wearable tech, and most specifically, smart fabrics. Over tempranillo provided by Alphabet City Wine Co. she gives us the fascinating perspective of how she was able to be a trailblazer in this industry, especially with the challenges of it being in its infancy, why not being popular in high school was ultimately a good thing, and that, above all else, being a maker is her single greatest motivator.

What You’ll Learn:

- How sometimes a hands-on education is better than following a university curriculum.

- Why it takes a certain personality to start a business.

- How to make the most of resources in the early stages of an industry.

Direct download: SIAB_MMaxey_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:49am EDT

Andy Ellwood started his first company at the age of 12 - a lawn care business unlike your typical teen gig - one that stayed in the family, and passed from brother to brother for 19 years. That experience, paired with his focus on finance at Texas A&M, has set his course as an expert salesman since, with an emphasis on his unique ability to make a sale, regardless of the product. That’s why, when making the leap from his home state of Texas to New York City with no job prospects, his best friend of several decades knew he would excel as the biz dev lead for his budding tech company, Gowalla (even if Andy didn’t know what “biz dev” meant. Or API. Or anything about tech, really.) It’s a decision that has lead him further down the path of technology, ultimately leading to his latest venture offering major savings to offline shoppers: Basket. Over bottles Shiner Bock, Andy shared his milestone experiences: how a tough professor steered him into finance, the continued benefits of being an Aggie, and his theory for how he avoided a Texas accent.

What You’ll Learn:

- How your competition can be a great motivator.

- Why sometimes confidence that you’ll learn on the job is all the experience you need.

- What distance you’ll travel to save $10.

Direct download: SIAB_AEllwood_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:43pm EDT

Alli Goldberg and Jen Jamula have made a career out of coaching people to face their greatest fear; public speaking. It's a position they ended up in almost by happenstance. As Yale University theater grads, these ladies set out as many post-graduation students do, subsidizing their passion for acting with jobs they found less than fulfilling. However, when the pursuit of theater also left them wanting, a chance reunion gave them the spark for an idea - creating their own kind of theater using the Internet's greatest content as the script of their production, Blogologues. And as that legitimized, so did the requests for coaching as well. By way of a shared office space, Alli and Jen became some of the more popular folks around the water cooler, where budding entrepreneurs pined for assistance in crafting and telling their stories. Over Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve Bourbon compliments of Fool’s Gold, the Blogologues and GoldJam founders tell how they evolved at every turn, ultimately turning their speaking advice into tailored workshops for companies large and small, and their quest as faux tech people to reestablish verbal communication (by starting the no text weekend).

What you'll learn:
Why public speaking skills matter, even if you think you don't need them.
The importance of knowing your strengths as a founder, and how to hire for your weaknesses.
The value of communication in a text heavy, digital world.

Direct download: SIAB_Blogologues_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:25am EDT

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