
85: FunnyBizz: Using Humor to Elevate Audience Engagement w/ David Nihill
04/09/15 • 46 min
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Currently Creating in: United States & IrelandWhat are the two driving force behind connecting you to your audience? Most would argue trust, but David Nihill is certain it’s humor. I think I agree with David.
He is the master of causing a ruckus among the crowd after a show, allowing them to feel as one with his message ultimately channeled through hilarity and the assassination of ‘boring.’
Oh yea, he’s fundamentally teaching others how to do the same thing. If you want to take your audience to another level, David is your new Daddy. He might not change your diaper, but he sure will spank you into success if you need it.
He’s a comedian and a public speaker geared to helping others transition from the struggle of feeling terrified in front of an audience to walking around with massive fists pumping in extreme satisfaction, just as he did.
Like most of us, he found his corporate job so terribly boring that he was falling asleep without even having a reason to feel tired. Enough was enough, and he established Funny Bizz to help others like him create the life they love, full of laughter and excitement.
He’s traveling around the world, running his conference, writing books and dominating so much it’s funny. See what I did there?
Awesome episode.
Creative Influences- The 10,000 Hour Rule by Malcolm Gladwell
- Kenny Robinson
- James Altucher’s How to Self-Publish a Bestseller: Publishing 3.0
- Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Work Week
- J. Jacobs
- "I love everything that Tim Ferriss has put together so I’d love to pick his brain on a lot of stuff."
- “I’d default to my stereotypical advantages and bring him to an Irish back, feed him way too much Guinness and wait until he falls asleep drunk.”
- We are hardwired to remember story. If you give me a number of facts in any way, it is not as memorable when you present those facts and bundle them as a story.
- Brevity is levity. Get to the point quicker.
- Make your story relatable so you can find your own voice quicker.
- Just get started. Whether it’s your own blog or something, you just need to get some content out there. If you have self-confidence issues, do it under a fake name.
- When you find something that you are passionate about, there’s no more getting burned out, you just love doing it. The line that separates work and passion blurs into one that you just get excited about with what you are working on and get lost in it.
- Book link here
- Blog link here
- Conference and FunnyBizz here
- Udemy course link here with 25% off
- FunnyBizz Website
- 18:18 : The fun he had working with Funny Bizz and the core goals of the company,
- 09:35 : A background on his career experiences and how he fell into writing despite being dyslexic and public speaking despite the fear of being in front of an audience,
- 12:36 : The process he went through in starting, marketing and publishing his book in Udemy,
- 14:14 : The power of storytelling and humor and why they are essential for content developers,
- 15:39 : The needs David identified upon coming ...
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Currently Creating in: United States & IrelandWhat are the two driving force behind connecting you to your audience? Most would argue trust, but David Nihill is certain it’s humor. I think I agree with David.
He is the master of causing a ruckus among the crowd after a show, allowing them to feel as one with his message ultimately channeled through hilarity and the assassination of ‘boring.’
Oh yea, he’s fundamentally teaching others how to do the same thing. If you want to take your audience to another level, David is your new Daddy. He might not change your diaper, but he sure will spank you into success if you need it.
He’s a comedian and a public speaker geared to helping others transition from the struggle of feeling terrified in front of an audience to walking around with massive fists pumping in extreme satisfaction, just as he did.
Like most of us, he found his corporate job so terribly boring that he was falling asleep without even having a reason to feel tired. Enough was enough, and he established Funny Bizz to help others like him create the life they love, full of laughter and excitement.
He’s traveling around the world, running his conference, writing books and dominating so much it’s funny. See what I did there?
Awesome episode.
Creative Influences- The 10,000 Hour Rule by Malcolm Gladwell
- Kenny Robinson
- James Altucher’s How to Self-Publish a Bestseller: Publishing 3.0
- Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Work Week
- J. Jacobs
- "I love everything that Tim Ferriss has put together so I’d love to pick his brain on a lot of stuff."
- “I’d default to my stereotypical advantages and bring him to an Irish back, feed him way too much Guinness and wait until he falls asleep drunk.”
- We are hardwired to remember story. If you give me a number of facts in any way, it is not as memorable when you present those facts and bundle them as a story.
- Brevity is levity. Get to the point quicker.
- Make your story relatable so you can find your own voice quicker.
- Just get started. Whether it’s your own blog or something, you just need to get some content out there. If you have self-confidence issues, do it under a fake name.
- When you find something that you are passionate about, there’s no more getting burned out, you just love doing it. The line that separates work and passion blurs into one that you just get excited about with what you are working on and get lost in it.
- Book link here
- Blog link here
- Conference and FunnyBizz here
- Udemy course link here with 25% off
- FunnyBizz Website
- 18:18 : The fun he had working with Funny Bizz and the core goals of the company,
- 09:35 : A background on his career experiences and how he fell into writing despite being dyslexic and public speaking despite the fear of being in front of an audience,
- 12:36 : The process he went through in starting, marketing and publishing his book in Udemy,
- 14:14 : The power of storytelling and humor and why they are essential for content developers,
- 15:39 : The needs David identified upon coming ...
Previous Episode

84: Shart.com - Framing Shirts into Art w/ Todd Schleuning
The setting: Forecastle Music Festival, 2014 Louisville, KY
“I have to get that dude on my show!” – me
“Who?” – Lindsay
“That baller in the yellow shart.com dress over there! Look how brilliant that marketing is!! I think I’ve seen him in a yellow speedo before.” –me
“Oh my god yea- that dude! I see that yellow bug he drives everywhere...” – Lindsay
“Genius,” – me
“Guinness? Yes..that too.”
This is precisely the exact conversation Lindsay and I had when gazing amongst the fantastic people watching of the stellar festival last summer. At the pinnacle of the entire crowd was the man, the myth, the notorious legend Todd Schleuning, marketing his startup like the fearless champion that he is. I salute you, sir.
Well, I fulfilled my wish and was able to bring the mack-daddy-daddy-mack Todd on the show for a blast of a conversation about his super creative t-shirt framing startup Shart.com. From Phish, Jeff Tweedy, Jenny Lewis and Reinwolf to the process of planning out an idea and kickstarting a creative business, there is a never a dull moment in this episode
I admire Todd and Cheryl’s drive and inspiration, but most of all their ability to recognize the importance of establishing ongoing creativity in the process of raising their family. The co-authored “The Misphits: Story of Snake,” which they hope will be the first in a series of children’s books, and they boldly include their children in their shart.com family marketing efforts.
Sherman, Sheryl, Shoney, Shoney and SherkinShart are here to take over the world in the cleverest way possible.
Creative Influences To defeat Godzilla with his talents...- “I will just lay down in a fetal position, it’s Godzilla! Or, I can make him laugh or give him a Shart.com t-shirt.”
- In writing, there are no rules. You can create something and do whatever you want.
- To be able to be honest in business is great.
- Have the ability to talk to people and be comfortable doing it.
- Go after any free money you can, do these pitches.
- Get out there and go crazy.
- Shart’s Website
- The Misphits Website
- Shart’s Facebook Page
- Shart’s Twitter Page
- Tood’s LinkedIn Profile
Here are the highlights of my funky conversation with Todd:
- 19:09 : About The Misphits, the trait and values they aim to spread through the book and what he loved most about writing it,
- 21:24 : Being a role model to his three girls and the part they played in daddy’s achievements,
- 24:06 : Finding crowd funding platforms to be useful in his projects: Fiber for Shart and using Kickstarter to raise funds for The Misphits project and ending doing a second run when their first did not turn out as successful due to raising the goal too high,
- 28:25 : The process of getting Shart together including decisions to be made in purchasing the domain and getting the best business ideas from a drunk teenager,
- 36:48 : Sharing more of his previous Kickstarter campaign experience and things you should know if you are looking into doing one such as doing tons of research,
- 42:46 : About Shart and how a Woodstock 1994 t-shirt birthed the idea of the project,
- 46:57 : The habits he has in place to help him out in is daily routines including honesty, consistencyand organization,
- 54:51 : Sharing best practices which worked for him including learning how to pitch, using unique marketing styles and leveraging social media, and
- 1:00:50 :Recalling the first creativ...
Next Episode

86: How Nutrition Will Save Your Life w/ Jenny McElvaney
Currently Creating in: Ireland
“Every day I wake, I am so thankful for the life I have, my amazing husband, Paul, who supports me in everything I do and I have been gifted with this amazing opportunity to help others prevent and recover from illness. I work on all areas of nutrition. So whether you’re lacking energy, recovering from cancer, or a sports enthusiast looking to perform better, I am here to help.” – Jenny McElvaney
You know those people who you meet for a reason? I think Jenny is that person for a massive amount of people – past, present and future.
She is dedicating her life every day to establish a new awareness for health and nutrition amongst her family, friends, audience and anyone in the world who is willing to listen.
In 2009, at the age of 35, only eight weeks before she was due to get married, Jenny was diagnosed with a rare form of Breast Cancer. She was told the only preventative measure was major surgery.
With the guidance of a nutritional doctor across the seas in Florida, Jenny decided to take her life into her hands and to use food and lifestyle changes as her medicine.
With this, she discovered immediate changes in her energy, clarity, mental well-being, hair, skin and overall health.
“Cancer isn’t a death sentence,it’s a life changing opportunity. It opened my eyes to life and all the wonderful things that come with it, and learning about nutrition has been one of them. I spent almost 20 years in the multinational industry and as my health changed, so did my perspective. The work was challenging and rewarding, but it wasn’t “me”. So today, I run my own Nutrition Clinic and am also working on qualifying as a Personal Trainer.”
If you’ve listened to my show before, you know how excited and motivated I get to talk about Health and its overall effect on every aspect of our lives. I am truly humbled to have connected with Jenny in this episode of the podcast, and I look forward to many more holistic conversations with her in the very near future.
Jenny, you are doing an angel’s work.
To defeat Godzilla with her talents...- “I would invite him to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day and would give him some green Guinness and get him some really good quality Irish food.”
- A lot of people wait until they get sick to look for help around their diet and they just get caught up in the whole rat race and just work and sleep and don’t realize that their body is all they have.
- Try and eat local.
- Taking baby steps, even one step a week, towards the right direction is better than nothing at all. Eventually, your whole life will transform.
- Spend your money wisely. Spent it on good quality products that you can afford.
- We need variety. Eat the rainbow, eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
- Jenny’s Website
- Jenny’s Twitter
- Jenny’s Facebook
- Manufacturers Replace BPA with Still Highly Toxic BPS
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 08:00 : Starting off with her story on how she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2009, making the decision to respect her body more by not going through the surgery of removing her ovaries and breasts and changing her diet, lifestyle and mindset overnight, and helping transform other people’s lives as well by becoming a nutritional therapist,
- 13:00 : The common things she wants to flag people such as substituting fruits and vegetables with supplements, eating low fat diets, consuming lots of bread and unhealthy snacks on the run,
- 18:26 : Things we should be eating more often, primarily vegetables and things we should be doing more such as reading labels on sugar and fat content,
- 23:46 : The nutritional benefits of meat and which types you should go for,
- 26:50 : Why we should avoid fastfood and stick with the healthy options, and where we can start if we want to transform our lifestyles,
- 33:35 : The importance of w...
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