Storytelling in Business: Crafting Narratives that Drive Success with Arielle Tayar

Forget perfect copy. The brands people remember are the ones that make them feel something, fast. I’m joined by Arielle Tayar, founder of Whip Creative Studio, Whip Productions, and Banquet Experiential, to talk about what actually makes business storytelling work when you are trying to grow a brand, market a product, or sell a service without sounding like a walking pitch deck. 

We get practical about the craft: why sensory detail and nuance make a story believable, how knowing your audience changes which moments you share, and how to blend personal truth into a strategic business narrative without slipping into oversharing. Arielle also explains the “guide” mindset and how to make your story universal so the listener can see themselves inside it, which is where trust and conversion really start to build. 

Then we zoom out into brand identity and modern marketing. Arielle breaks down why a brand is now an entire world, why founder-led storytelling is so powerful on social media, and how “building in public” can turn early listeners into real community. You’ll also hear a concrete example with Mamala Organics and why nostalgia and consistency help a brand feel familiar while still looking new. 

If you want stronger brand messaging, better content, and a more ethical way to sell, press play. After you listen, subscribe, share this with a founder friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What story are you going to tell next?

Read more here.

Transcript

The Promise Of Story Driven Growth

Jenny 0:27

If you're right beyond the time for money and build profit, you're in the right place. Have you ever wondered what makes some brands instantly memorable while others struggle to connect? In this episode, we're diving into the power of storytelling in business with Ariel Tayar and exploring how the right narrative can build trust, deepen your audience connection, and ultimately drive real business success.

Arielle Tayar And Her Three Brands

Jenny 0:55

Hi, Ariel. Welcome to the podcast. How are you? I am great. Thank you so much for having me, Jenny. Of course. I am super excited about this conversation we're going to have about storytelling in business, crafting that narratives that drive success. But before we actually jump into it, will you actually introduce yourself and your business to my audience?

Arielle 1:16

Yes, sure. My name is Arielle Tayar, and I have three businesses that kind of fall under one umbrella. Whip Creative Studio, which is a creative agency where we specialize in crafting narratives and stories and visual identities for brands. We have Whip Productions, which is a luxury wedding planning business. And then we have Banquet Experiential, which is the experiential arm for experiential marketing, pop-ups, activations.

Jenny 1:41

Amazing. Excellent. Very good. So let's just kind of just jump right

Why Storytelling Builds Trust

Jenny 1:46

into this. My audience has been hearing me talk a lot about storytelling as of late. They have all one of the books that we have been reading quite a bit and talking a lot about is Stories That Stick by Kendra Hall. I'm not sure if you're familiar, but I am super excited to get your take on this. So why is storytelling such a powerful tool in marketing and business growth?

Arielle 2:08

So I'm gonna go deep for a second here, Jenny. I hope you're okay with that. Okay, so you know, storytelling is everything. I have a theater background, and theater is like inherently the first form of storytelling, right? When people were reenacting moments. And I think it's such a huge part of how we process as human beings, you know, seeing, you know, that there are so many also therapeutic modalities that have to do with role playing and things like that. You know, it's such an important part of who we are as humans and how we relate to one another. And obviously that trickles into business in such an important way because people forget, but business is actually people interacting and kind of trading, right? That's that's it. So so storytelling just is the through line for all of those interactions.

Details That Make Stories Stick

Jenny 2:53

I love the way that you explained that. That was excellent. Okay, so what makes a story memorable versus something that might be forgettable?

Arielle 3:01

So I think detail and and kind of nuance, right? Like I think the thing that would make a story, you know, really memorable is if you're able to tap into senses and really get detailed on what it smelled like, what it felt like, what you know the texture was. I think in any scenario, whether it is like you trying to sell via a story, it's you know, bring in a personal example, talk about how it affected you because people want to know that. That's always gonna be more endearing. Yes.

Jenny 3:31

Yeah, I love that you're bringing in the five senses. I think the more descriptive you can be, being able to say what you're wearing, what the the weather was like, all those kinds of things just makes it more real for people, right?

Arielle 3:42

Yeah, but I'll add something. I do think that something super important before anything is knowing who your audience is, right? Like you need to know who you're telling your story to. And if it's, you know, a crowd that whatever, like loves sport, I'm just making it up, but loves uh, you know, whatever nature, then you're gonna want to like tap in and gear your detailing into like something that's gonna touch them, right? So I think it really starts first and foremost with knowing who your audience is and then catering your storytelling to what you know and think they're going to respond well to.

Personal Plus Strategic Storytelling

Jenny 4:14

Okay. So that actually transitions perfectly into my next question. What's the difference between telling a personal story and telling a strategic business story? Is it the audience?

Arielle 4:26

No, because I think that there's room for a personal, I think that they can be intermingled. And I think that there's room for a personal take to a business story or to a strategic story, you know, whether you're doing a pitch and you can say, you can even add, you know, a detail within to say, you know, one time we did this project where we tapped into this and it was such a cool experience. And it will always help your strategy, right? It will always help the sell if you can bring in like a personal angle or talk about how excited you are about this project or excited you are about this, you know. So bring people into your personal take on the strategic call. And that in and of itself is strategy, right? Because, like we said, it's humans doing business with another human. So you want to speak to their heart in the same way you would in a personal conversation.

Jenny 5:17

Yeah, so good. So, how do you know which stories are actually worth sharing?

Arielle 5:24

Wow, that's a tough one. I think it's gut instinct, and again, I think it goes back to audience because you really need to have a sense for people. And I think the best storytellers listen more than they speak. You listen to body cues, you listen to language, you listen, you look at the eyes, you look at like, is that person, am I losing that person? Are they losing interest? Because I think there aren't necessarily story, you know, each each audience has a story that they care about, right? So um I think all stories are great. It's just the delivery and making sure that you're again catering the right details to that appropriate audience.

Jenny 6:04

Have you um are you familiar with Story Brand 2.0 by Donald Miller at all? Where he talks about it, but you've heard of it though, right? He talks about this overall idea of being a guide, never it being about you, the person, the expert, just being the guide that's going to help your audience on their journey, let's say, okay. Um I think that that's kind of where it can often be one of those stories where it you can determine if it's the right one or not. Sometimes I find that that's where I kind of get will get caught up, is that I will stop once I'm realizing I'm making it about me and not about where I'm trying to take them. Because I think that there's sometimes there's I find clients will struggle where they're almost oversharing. They're sharing details about themselves, trying to make themselves personal, but it's not connected to where they're trying to take them. And I think that's where I often see people kind of struggling. What about you?

Arielle 7:06

Yeah, I think you have to ask yourself, is the personal detail I'm trying to infuse into this something that somebody else can that that is universal? Like if I want to talk about, I don't know, grief, for example, you know, and I have my own personal experience. So I think you want to add the detail because you need to like hook them on to something visceral in your delivery, but then you want to say, like, you know, and ask questions throughout, because it depends, you know, what the context is and where you're speaking. But is there a way, you know, yesterday I actually went to a lecture, somebody unbelievable, who's talking about grief, and that's why I'm bringing that up. And she she was talking about her own very personal and unique story, and she kept saying, she was talking about it, but she would say, But you know, I'm not unique. There are many people in this room who have, you know, buried a loved one. And the second she said that, it was like she took her personal experience that we were all there to listen, because she obviously has a unique experience. She's a person of note, but then made it like her story is our story. And then the second she did that, you know, the whole room was in tears. And so obviously that's uh that kind of example. But you could do that with humor and you could do that with um with like excitement and you can do that with any kind of emotion. But I think you have to ask yourself like, is what I'm saying going to resonate? And did somebody else in this room feel that at a certain point? And how can I, you know, find that common thread? And you know, that's what theater is, and that's why I'm obsessed with storytelling and have always been so passionate about it because when you're watching an interaction happen on stage, you're living vicariously through those characters going through something. And maybe you never went through that thing that that character is going through, but you felt that feeling in a different way, right? So that's I think the thing that's like that's when the magic happens.

Brand Identity And Founder Stories

Jenny 8:47

Yes, that is such a great example. So, how can we make this connection between storytelling and brand identity? Is there a way to do that?

Arielle 8:57

A hundred percent, and it is necessary. Brand identity, especially today, more than ever, with all of the different outlets that you have to sort of exist on in order for your brand to live and breathe in the world today. Um, you know, you see more and more that a brand is no longer just a visual identity. It's an entire world. And that world needs to be personified, personified by other adjacent kinds of likes and dislikes, cultural movements, political adjacencies. There are so many different kinds of ways you can take it, but a brand today must tell a story. And I think more than ever, what we're seeing because of social media is founder-led stories. We're seeing more and more founders take to the camera, speak to the camera, and build in public, build with their audience. And the second that happens and becomes relatable because you're watching somebody really struggle and build and go through these problems and you're with them along for the ride, you are that much more invested in their brand and their product. You want so much more to participate in their success. Um, so we're seeing more and more when I'm building brand strategies today for my clients, I'm saying, let's do a pre-launch event, let's do a mind meld where we're gonna bring, you know, 20 potential uh, you know, people to and kind of recruit them and ask them to come alongside. You know, we want to tell the story in the very early stages before you have your things, your ducks in a row, right? We want to bring people into the story.

Jenny 10:28

Do you have an example? I know I'm putting you on the hot seat here. Do you have an example of a brand that you've worked with that has used their founder story in order to do that?

Arielle 10:40

So I have a good friend. Um, and you know, I actually didn't work on her brand, but I've been advising to her along the way. Um, and it's funny because I have so many brands that I have worked on, but this is such a good example, and I think she did such a great execution. So I want to talk about her. Her name is Rebecca Smith, and she launched this amazing product called Mamala Organics, which are these like pouches for postpartum and sort of support pouches for mom, though, not for the baby. Um, and the way that she built everything was, you know, she started building in public. She did some of these mind melds event meld events. She recruited, you know, women and she did these in LA, New York, Austin, wherever. She went to all kinds of cities and found these core communities to kind of trickle into. And what she was doing was recruiting, basically, recruiting these soldiers on that were now going out in the world and were excited because she was asking them, what do you think? What do you need postpartum? What are you, you know, and she was bringing content to the table that wasn't necessarily pertaining to the product itself, things that she knew moms, millennial moms, want to know and talk about. Um, so she did such a good job. She's a dear friend of mine. She did such a good job with building her brand in that way and telling that story. And she's constantly out and about, you know, putting herself out there. And I'm super proud of her for that. So I think that's a really, really good example of how to build um community and through storytelling of, you know, her own personal experience as a mom of two. Yes, no, I love

Intuition Listening And Ethical Selling

Arielle 12:14

that.

Jenny 12:14

So is there a framework people can use to tell better stories or structure?

Arielle 12:23

So for sure there is, but I'm not that kind of storyteller, I would have to say. For sure. Yeah, there are, you know, those books that you were talking about, which I know everyone's like, you have to read this, you have to, there are, you know, beginning, middle, end, have an arc, have a have a solution, you know. Yes. I'm not that kind of storyteller, I'm not that kind of business person, I'm not a templated kind of creator in any which way for the good and the bad, right? Um, but I think, you know, when it comes from me with to my storytelling sort of ethos and the way that I approach it, it really is intuitive and it really is, like I said, listening more than I'm even talking. Like I'm talking right now, but I'm looking, you know, I'm looking at you in the screen. I'm seeing you not, I'm understanding, is this interesting for Jenny, for her audience right now? So, you know, I say that about the best artists, the best DJs out there. I say they're watching the crowd, they're seeing what's happening. And I think when you listen and you're like in that zone, and for some people it is their zone of genius. For some, it's not. So I understand why they might need a framework and I wish I could help with one, but I know there are plenty of resources out there. But for me, and for what I think is like that intuitive, you know, storytelling that just gets you in the gut, it's about really listening and attuning to who you're speaking with in the moment.

Jenny 13:44

No, I think that that is such a huge piece of what people need to hear, that it doesn't have to be this step-by-step. It's you got to take the time to slow down and read the people that you're speaking to. Because I think sometimes, especially when it comes to pitching and talking about where our your offer, we're often very nervous, right? We get anxious about talking about it. And how do we talk about our product or our service and not feel like we're trying to sell it? And I think that that is where a lot of my audience struggles is that they want to be ethical. They want to be come from a heart-centered position. So the fact that you're seeing to slow down and listen and read them just makes it that much easier for them. So I think that that's great advice.

Arielle 14:29

And I would say also remember that the person on the other side of the exchange is a person too, with their own insecurities and their own thoughts and their own, you know, I'm hungry, I'm what did I, what do I have to do later? Like there are all kinds of so I think the more heart-centered and authentic to yourself and to your story that you can be, like, there's no more ethical than that, right? That is like the pinnacle of being ethical by just being super authentic and really like speaking with that other person in a human-sensitive way.

Nostalgia Consistency And Common Mistakes

Jenny 15:03

So earlier you talked about details being an important part of a story. Are there any other elements that you feel like have to be a part of when you're creating a business story?

Arielle 15:16

Do you mean business story or brand story?

Jenny 15:19

Business story, brand story, yes, exactly. Like okay. Yes.

Arielle 15:23

Um yes, I think that's a great tip that I would offer. I think that a brand or a business that does well and resonates, and I like to say this to my clients a lot, is a business or sorry, a brand identity that feels like it's been there forever, but I've never seen it before. Take that sentence for a minute. It's been there forever, but I've never seen it before. Meaning it's anchored in visual and storytelling cues that people can relate to. Something nostalgic. It's tapping into an era, it's tapping into a color story, it's tapping into some whatever rhythm that exists already in the world, making it feel familiar and comfortable to be in, but still fresh enough where it feels completely new. And I think I would say that whether it is in the visual identity or in the storytelling or what you decide to align yourself with, because you're not in a vacuum. No business is in a vacuum. You exist in an ecosystem with other brands, and every person is, you know, um engaging with hundreds of brands a day, from the shoes you put on to the chapstick you every single thing you do, right? And there's a through line. So understanding where your audience is engaging and and and understanding that you exist in an ecosystem, like I would say that if you can tap into that thread of like nostalgia. Nostalgia is like huge. I think in every brand I've ever built, there's some kind of nostalgic element, whether it's a color story that nods to, you know, the 70s, which is my my era of choice, or or you know, um, or or something that feels whatever it may be. I think nostalgia is such a place where you can where like sentiment and emotion live. And that's where you're trying to bring people. So you're you're selling your product, but you're doing so much more than that. You're bringing them into a world that they already feel in some way attached to.

Jenny 17:36

That makes sense. So would there be one mistake that you have seen that people make when it comes to storytelling? Is there a mistake?

Arielle 17:47

There are plenty. Um, like I said, one, not listening enough and just kind of like getting it all wrong. Two, not being consistent. Um, you know, a brand or a business today, it's not just one story. You have to continuously be feeding the beast. You have to be continuously telling your story. So you have to make sure that those brand values that you've identified for yourself are showing up time and time again. I think inconsistency is a really big mistake that people make because, you know, they're excited or trying to like tap into what's trending and not and kind of losing sight of the core values. And it's a subconscious experience that happens within the user on the other end. But when you're inconsistent, people are like, whoa, I don't know what to latch on to. Is it luxury? Is it commercial? Is it expensive? Is it affordable? I'm not sure. Like you're you're you're throwing me in all different kinds of directions because like there's no brand consistency. So I think once you dive in and understand what those core values are that are really important and integral to your brand, just like stick to the plan. You can evolve, but don't forget the core essence because that won't really change for the most part.

Jenny 18:54

Nope.

Connect With Arielle And Close

Jenny 18:55

I love that. That makes so much sense. Ariel, where are the best places to connect with you?

Arielle 19:02

Um, I would say LinkedIn, Instagram. I'm an Instagram girly because I am. Um, and then you can find my email on any one of my you know websites if if anybody is interested. Um so yeah. Yes.

Jenny 19:15

Well, we are gonna make sure to link to that in the show notes so that we can have my audience making sure that they get to know you even more than we already have. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to speak with me and share your knowledge with my audience. Thank you so much for having me. It's been great.