2403 - Discovering Joy and Authenticity on a Journey with Chad Peterson

0:01Welcome to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If you're committed to growing your business by serving audiences with generosity and real expertise, you're in the right place. This is a daily 15-minute show featuring leaders who believe real impact comes from generosity, not hype, which means as a listener, you're going to get the good stuff. In fact, we created podverified.com to give thoughtful leaders like you free tools to show up better on podcast stages like this one. That includes your free PodVerified score, free PodVerified guest training, a free media kit builder, and so much more. It's the first ecosystem of its kind built by podcasters who genuinely want to help guests thrive and grow in podcasting.

0:44Visit podverify.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now, Chad Peterson. and Chad, you are the story catcher. You're found on the web at thestorycatcher.com. As we are having this conversation and I wish that folks could see what I'm seeing in your background. You live in beautiful, a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful part of Ecuador. A lot of it is beautiful, but my gosh, the mountains behind you are just gorgeous. You got a river flowing right outside your window as well. Chad, I'm green with envy, but Chad, it's great to have you on the show.

1:28It's good to be here. I don't know if you saw a turkey volder just flew right behind my head. I did see that, yeah. I should, full disclosure, Chad and I are friends. So we've been good buddies for quite some time on social. And so, Chad, before we get going, kind of talking about your superpowers as the story catcher, You know, I always love just kind of hearing, you know, from guests, you know, what kind of stuff that they're into when they're not at work, what they're currently geeking out on. Living in Ecuador, I'm sure you have some really unique experiences to do things that maybe you didn't do in the United States.

2:07What have you been up to lately? Just a few, right? Just a few. You know, it's funny, it doesn't sound very Ecuadorian, but one of the things when I first got here, I did so much karaoke that I went in one night to the karaoke bar in this little town in Ecuador. And the video that was now playing behind the lyrics while other people sang was me singing karaoke in Ecuador. So there's those weird things like that. But right now, the big thing for me is, I guess I want to call it Operation Sexy Beast, which more emphasis on the beast side. But I've not only just been hitting the gym here, but I've downloaded the AllTrails app because there's just countless trails and places to explore here.

2:55but with the end goal and you can't see it today behind me uh but it's covered by the clouds but is a volcano uh tungurawa mama tungurawa which is incredibly revered and respected here and so right now the goal is that sometime in 2026 is to be able to go and climb uh volcano so that's that's kind of the the side thing that i'm working on is to at my own how big of a hike how long of a hike is that uh it's a few hours um they take you up to a certain point um but i think it's a seven or eight hour uh ordeal so yeah the goal so the goal is to do that one this year and then there's two that are bigger uh that i'd like to do in 27 cotopaxi and then chimborazo chimborazo is actually the closest place on the earth to the sun so it's not the biggest mountain on earth but it's the closest place on earth to the sun because we're located on the equator and because of the tilt of the axis of the earth it puts that volcano closer to the sun than anywhere else on the planet what that's so cool wow all right chad uh really thank you so much and by the way uh you know you you post a lot of your ecuadorian uh content on your social media so So that's why I kind of know the goings on there.

4:21Chad, tell me about your work with The Story Catcher. Yeah, so the story catching is something that kind of evolved. It evolved through my own journey of self-discovery and trying to figure out who I was without anyone else. Without these stories that were put on me by society or religion or politics or social media. everyone else's expectations. And it started about two years ago, I went on this journey. And as I did this, I was very open, it was very vulnerable with it online. And people started reaching out and saying, thank you for helping me realize I'm not alone. Do you have time to talk?

5:03And so I started receiving my own training and going through programs to help me be able to help other people because I realized, okay, this is what I meant to do. The story catching originally was helping marketers find stories to connect with their audiences and then I realized that the real meaning and calling of Storycatcher was to help people take back the pen of their own story stop being an actor on stage and start being the person who gets to write the script so so that's what I do I work with mostly people I would be in 35 to 60 um kind of midlife again, having that moment where they realize, I don't know who I am anymore.

5:47I've been living for everybody else. Or a lot of times it's just people who struggle with, feeling like they're enough. Feeling like they're enough. Yeah. I suspect, Chad, that there are plenty of folks that understand why knowing and communicating your story is so critical today. I mean, it's how humans connect with one another. I mean, it's how we're wired. But I would really love your take on that. About communicating our story? Yeah, yeah. Like why it's so vital, particularly today when, you know, I think content can just be, you know, there's an infinite amount of content, particularly, you know, that produced by AI, but yet human experience is uniquely human.

6:45So take that ball and run with it. yeah you know obviously we're wired for story i think that's a pretty commonly known thing that we connect through story i think the problem is and i think i was guilty of this as well is that i spent more time trying to share the story i think everybody wants to hear and becoming something everybody else wants me to be so that i can connect with them the right way instead of realizing who I am without all of that. So I think part of the problem on social media is we're sharing stories, but we're just sharing the stories we think people want to hear and we're sharing them in a way that we want them, we think they want to hear them.

7:35So with Story Catcher, the difference is none of that matters anymore. I get to be who I am because it's who I am. I tell my clients all the time, right now in this moment, I'm enough, not because of anything I've done, but because I exist. And so when we can get to that point in our lives where we're willing to share us because it's who we are and not because we think we're going to get engagement or likes or people are going to think better about us, there's something freeing about that. And I think the world needs more of that. For everybody. Yeah. Yeah, no, for everybody. Absolutely. Right.

8:15Because if, if I'm getting this version of you on social media and you're telling stories, but then I meet you and I get to know you and I'm like, that's not who this person is at all. You can feel it. I think you can feel it on social media too. And you read it too. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure. You know, the people that are low key performing, you know, and I think a lot of social media, could you talk maybe just a little bit more about social media. I think that, you know, you've got the spotlight effect going on. I think a lot of, you know, social media is largely performative. A lot of it is, what am I thinking about?

8:57Oh God, what's the term? It's like you say something, but really you're just, you're communicating about yourself. What's that? It'll come to me in just a moment. By the way, our friend who's listening knows, hopefully they know exactly what I'm talking about. I'll come to And I'm not even explaining it very well. I'll let I'll let you explain kind of your take on, you know, again, I would say especially particularly, you know, business founders, leaders and their presence on social. As of when we are recording this, there have just been, again, more CEOs that are just stepping in it from just coming across as so aloof.

9:36And I think you know who I'm talking about. Not just aloof, but just it's just the ick. It's ick and ew. And it just feels so non-human. And so as the rest of us, I think largely are just kind of like, it just feels gross. Yeah. Projection. Projection is the word. Projection. Yeah. All right. We put on these stories that aren't ours because we want to generate sales, right? We want to generate all of these different things. You know, I'm a YouTube coach, right? I'm not. I'm just saying in general, like somebody's like, I'm a YouTube coach and all my content is super positive and I'm the man and I'm all of these things and confident and blah, blah, blah, blah.

10:20But behind the scenes, I struggle with insecurity. I struggle with depression. I struggle with self-doubt and imposter syndrome and all these things. And we feel like we have to hide that. Like it's going to affect our sales, right? I post, obviously I use social media. I share stories and things that are going on here in Ecuador in order to get people to want to come on the journeys and the retreats that I do here to hire them as coaching clients. But I don't sit there and post all day long. Look at my life. Everything's wonderful. Everything's great because it's not true to who I am. And people are just people are going to realize that, that it's just it's just a show.

11:00People connect with you when you're you. So if I'm having a hard day and I'm struggling with self-doubt or I'm dealing with imposter syndrome, I have no problem I'm posting a post saying, hey, guys, it means so much to me that you guys reach out to me, that you trust me to be there for you to help you catch your story. But today I'm struggling with my own. I realized yesterday that I was putting on a face to try to be somebody that everyone thought I was supposed to be. And it actually didn't turn out well. there's nothing wrong with sharing those moments from a place of just being vulnerable and and real i think another thing too is a lot of people try to be vulnerable but they're not authentic right so we share this sob story that's not even real we add or we we give it a little bit more we let ai help i guess give it a little bit more to make people want to connect with us and it's Like, that's not really what happened.

12:05So. At the same time too, Chad, I'd love your perspective. Like as leaders, as founders who may feel pressured to communicate on social media, there also is like, you know, the concept of disclosure. How much is too much? What is oversharing? How do you find that line? I think sometimes it's just dipping your toe in the water. you know um i think it's different for everyone based on their audience i mean obviously you don't want to share something that's going to cost you your job right um i don't know that i'd go online and if i had done something illegal i don't know if i'd confess but uh i you know where that line is i think it's different for everybody and it's based in their audience.

12:55I don't know if there's an actual formula. I mean, I shared some pretty vulnerable stuff, but there's some things still from my journey that I kept to myself. I think a good thing, a good question to ask is, am I doing it to help others or am I doing it to help myself? And if I'm trying to just unload stuff to unburden myself and possibly put that weight on other people to validate me or do something, then maybe it's not the right thing to share. But if I'm sharing something I went through because I'm like, you know what, I get that there's other people who are struggling with this. Then I say, go for it.

13:36Share it. Chad, tell me how you work with your clients. So I do one-on-one coaching. Typically we meet every other week. They have access to me online, 24-7 if they have a crisis moment or whatever in their story. But then my clients usually work with me for three or four months. And we gift them the retreat here in Ecuador as part of being one of our clients. So they're here for about a week. It's all inclusive. They just have to pay for their airline ticket. um i i do a combination of things we use journal therapy principles from narrative coaching narrative therapy uh polyvagal theory you know making sure your nervous system and all of those things are are are safe and feel well we use you know breathing and all those things the weird part i guess where it gets a little weird with story catching is when i got to ecuador i started studying some of the spirituality here in ecuador and uh learned about a thing called the chicana Some call it the Andean medicine wheel, the Andean cross.

14:49And it had a lot of depth and it had a lot of principles in it that really overlaid into what I had learned as I went through all of the narrative coaching training and things that I had done over the last two years. and so we incorporate i incorporate some of that um including uh four animal spirits that are revered here in ecuador the the serpent the condor uh the hummingbird and uh and and i'm just blanking out because i just did them out of order oh and the jaguar i i looked at my chest just now because the chicana is literally tattooed on my chest um so that was that was uh something that happened here in Ecuador.

15:28So I give clients not just techniques and opportunities to talk, but I give them spiritual symbols, anchors, things to use however they feel they will work best for them. This isn't some woo-woo thing. I don't do, you know, ayahuasca or medicine healing, which I I do believe all of those things are great. They're just not part of what I do. I don't do anything that's like anti-Christian or anti-this faith or anti-this. Everything that I do, somebody who, whatever faith they are, would feel comfortable being a part of it and not feel like they were, you know, going against whatever it is that they believe in.

16:14Yeah. Yeah, Chad, you've had retreats there as well. I have. We just had one end a couple of days ago. What a cool experience that would be. we'd love to have you. You know, one of the things people hear retreats, they hear mountains, they hear Ecuador. One, they get nervous because they don't know anything about Ecuador. They see things in the news. We're in a part of Ecuador that's 10 hours away from things that are going on. Like any country, there's places you don't want to go, right? But I tell people, it'd be like canceling your trip to Des Moines, Iowa, because you heard there was violence in Chicago.

16:50right you're not going to be anywhere near it so one people get nervous about that the other though people get a little antsy they're like well it's going to cost me a lot of money uh first of all you're paying for the coaching the retreats free but i also keep my coaching at a price where people can afford it because i'm i'm not looking for that guy who's making seven figures wants to make eight figures. I'm not that coach. I'm the coach who wants to help somebody get back to who they really are and stop living everybody else's story. And I know what it's like to maybe not be able to afford that.

17:26And I live in a country where the cost of living is low. And so I keep my pricing at a place where I'm able to live and not get rich because I feel like I was brought here on purpose. Yeah. I have a colleague to do this. My coach gets on me all the time. Chad, you're not charging enough. You're leaving money on the table. I'm like, that's okay. I'd rather leave money on the table than people. So, but Chad, you're what I, what I like about, you know, and just, you know, knowing that we're kind of connected on, on social. And so I see a lot of what you post, I mean, but you're enjoying every day.

18:00And I think that that, I think that that is quite aspirational for a lot of us who are, you know, type a overachievers, you know, you know, and, you know, always living for tomorrow or always living for, you know, goalposts that keep moving, that drive is great. That drive likely got you the success that you have today. But, you know, every leader that I've talked with who has achieved, you know, seven, eight, nine figures in business, they're like, listen, the goalpost never moves. I mean, so it's not like if you're not happy at five figures or six figures, chances are you're not going to be happy at seven and eight.

18:42It's just so you may as well just focus on being content now. Not be happy isn't necessarily the answer, but content. Right. And so, Chad, I look at a lot of what you do is kind of being a path to that. Chad, I need to wrap up here with you. So your website is the story catcher dot com for someone that wants to engage with you, have a conversation. Like what do you recommend next steps from, from, uh, you know, kind of hearing about you for the first time here? Yeah. So you can go to the story catcher.com. There's a link to book a discovery call. Um, I think it says 30 minutes. I need to get my website people to change that because I'm going to give me an hour.

19:19Um, we're going to do a story catching session with you. Um, I, I want you to come in, have a call with me, no charge, no obligation, but I want you to have some kind of breakthrough. I want you to have that moment that goes, oh, my God. I'm ready to take back the pen. I'm ready to start living my own life, not what everybody else wants. Yeah, we just had the retreat and we talked about the hummingbird. The hummingbird is joy. You brought it up, right? We take people salsa dancing. We have them go through a salsa class after dinner. We have a couple of drinks. We go salsa dancing. And these people had so much fun.

19:52I asked them, when's the last time you went dancing? And nobody could answer the question. When's the last time you, whoever's listening, when's the last time you did? It was Friday, dude. I went and saw it. I love it. I love it. I saw chili peppers and no doubt tribute bands. You better believe I was out there dancing. And I burned a lot of calories too. And I don't care how stupid I look. Well, we took them to a salsa tech. We took them to an actual dance club to go dance. And just to see people light up. So your audience, when's the last time you took time out just to dance? Yeah. That's what story catching.

20:26Story catching helps you take back the pen. Yeah. I remember how to live the life you were meant to live, which is one of joy. Joy is not a reward. It's nourishment. You need it. I love it. Chad Peterson, The Story Catcher, your website, thestorycatcher.com. Chad, it's been a great conversation. Thank you so much for joining us.

20:49Thanks for listening to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If your goal is to grow your business, increase revenue, and build authority without gimmicks, this show is designed for you. Each episode gives you practical insight from leaders who have turned trust and credibility into real business results. If you value short, thoughtful conversations that respect your time, make sure you're subscribed. We publish daily 15-minute episodes focused on growth that actually compounds. And if you're interested in being a guest or you want to turn podcast appearances into measurable business growth, visit podverified.com.

21:25You can start for free with your pod verified score, along with free podcast guest training and a free media kit builder. These tools are built to help you get booked on better shows, deliver stronger interviews and convert audience trust into revenue. No more desperate sales. You truly can enjoy all the business you like by generously sharing your wisdom. Everything we offer is built by podcasters for guests with a focus on trust, organic growth, and long-term business success. Thanks again for spending your time with us. I'll see you next time.