Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Rohan Kale is an entrepreneur and storyteller, who helps businesses boost their brand thru animation. Today, Rohan will share how you can tell a better story for your company or business.
Successes at a glance:
Entrepreneur, storyteller, helping businesses grow their brand awareness thru animation at rkale.
Rohan’s story:
Rohan started out as an engineer in India. Despite having a great education and working for a prominent IT company, Rohan wasn’t happy. At age 19, Rohan started exploring other ways to make a “quick buck.” This restlessness took Rohan into the dangerous world of gambling.
Setback failure or time when things fell apart:
Within 6 months of entering the “rabbit hole” of gambling, Rohan was broke. He had drained his savings and felt his mental health spiraling downward. At his lowest point, Rohan had to borrow money from his parents to pay off his gambling debt. Rohan felt deeply ashamed and his parents could see he was not in a good place. Fortunately, his parents were very supportive. They helped him with his situation and encouraged him to find something different that would fulfill him.
The “aha” moment that sparked a pivot:
Rohan decided to reset his life. At his core, Rohan loves to travel and explore different parts of the world. Going back to his job was not an option. With his parents’ support, Rohan decided to explore his options. Rohan ended up taking a job in Germany with Daimler in sales and marketing. Rohan got his MBA and paid off his debts. Getting out of debt allowed him to consider his life from a big picture perspective. He was back to having a job but he still wasn’t happy. The corporate life just wasn’t for him and he couldn’t imagine himself doing this for the next five years, much less until retirement. Rohan came to this startling and scary conclusion: “you are not a person made for a job.” Rohan was lost again. Rohan took a step back and asked himself “what do you like?” Coincidentally, he happened to be watching an episode of the old cartoon series “Captain Planet” which sparked a lot of happy memories from his childhood. Then, as the nostalgic waves cascaded over him, he realized he loved “stupid cartoons!” Rohan decided to explore this further. He did some market research and discovered that video and animation were exploding in popularity. This led Rohan to take his leap by asking himself a simple question: “what if I could start something alongside with my job and give myself a chance.” Rohan studied internet marketing and online entrepreneurship. From there, he started brushing up on graphic design and animation. Eventually, Rohan decided to hire someone who was an expert in animation. He grew this side hustle and within 6 months, he was able to generate enough revenue so that he could quit his job and go full time into helping businesses create animated promos.
Knowledge bursts:
One great tip for telling your brand or business’ story:
Research your target audience, identify their pain points, and tell the story of how your solution answers those pain points.
Resource or cultural experience that inspired Rohan to move forward:
Captain Planet: revisiting this cartoon series from his childhood sparked the inspiration for Rohan to explore animation. From there, Rohan started to explore how he could use his skills in sales and marketing to help businesses grow.
The Pursuit of Happyness: while watching Captain Planet clips on YouTube, he came across a clip from this movie which inspired him to take account of his situation and never let anything, even the worst of times, hold him back from pursuing his big why.
The Subtle of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson: Rohan’s takeaway is don’t give a f*ck about what others think, just focus on you.
How Rohan recharges when facing a roadblock or challenge:
Shut off everything and go for a walk. Rohan also loves to travel.
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Advice to past self while going thru a difficult time:
Don’t do things because other people expect you to and don’t try to make everyone happy. Do them because you want to and figure out what makes you happy. Make sure whatever you do, you focus and give it your all.
Parting wisdom (in a few words):
“Implementation always triumphs planning.”
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