👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
This week, I got to catch up with Ryan Koral—one of the most engaging storytellers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.
Ryan is the Founder + Chief Strategy Guide of Tell Studios.
And if pressed to describe his job to an alien, Ryan would say:
I have a team, and we create videos with soul that help people who are trying to make a difference in the world connect with their ideal audience.
Whether you're a brand or an individual, our job as videographers and as storytellers is to get to the heart of what you're all about—and craft it in a video form.
Now, I know you're an alien, so maybe you don't know what a video is, but we create an emotion to get people to lean in and respond.
With over 17 years as a documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur, Ryan LOVES building partnerships with clients and telling authentic stories that inspire action, highlight legacies, and help grow businesses. He’s a husband of eighteen years (and his wife still loves him – seriously!), a proud dad of three kids (and their dog Koda). When not coming up with big ideas, you can usually find him laughing or enjoying a cup of coffee (hopefully not both at the same time).Ryan also consults other video studios on how to build their business through a weekly podcast and digital courses.
How Ryan and I Met
Ryan and I spent a week together in Michigan creating a series of videos about the amazingly inspiring students of buildOn—featuring the kids who participated in one of their service learning programs in an under-resourced urban area of Detroit.
This video series was one of my favorite projects ever, and not just because I was lucky enough to get to know these special students on a deep level.
But also because I got to work with Ryan and his incredibly thoughtful team…
Waking up before sunrise to capture epic drone shots at the abandoned Detroit Train Station, where Eminem filmed the My Life video
Spending a day exploring abandoned houses to shoot haunting b-roll footage—I almost fell through the floorboards in one location
Painting a community mural with the students and serving the homeless at a soup kitchen, where one student burst into a song so beautiful that the video acoustics couldn’t do it justice
Interviewing buildOn’s charismatic founder—while a bomb threat was happening at the school and helicopters circled
Through this whole experience, Ryan and his team elevated every aspect of the work—and created a safe space where students who had never been on camera before felt comfortable sharing their most personal stories with us.
Today, I’m thrilled to share some of Ryan’s personal stories and best advice with you.
The Storyteller’s Backstory
The Words That Inspired Ryan
I had the same teacher in first and second grade. Her name was Mrs. Waller, and she's one of my most favorite human beings ever.
When we got free time, there was a big board in our classroom with different things that we could choose to do. And I would always choose to make these little story books, about six pages long.
On day, I had finished a story—and I asked Mrs. Waller if could share it.
And then at the end of me reading this 30-second story out loud, she says to the whole class, “One day, Ryan is going to be a storyteller!”
And I think that was it, without me realizing it. Those words guided a lot of my path.
I realized I was in the middle of owning this business, and that Mrs. Waller spoken it into existence.
And so I tracked Mrs. Waller down on Facebook. I sent her this sentimental message. I told her that the words she was probably speaking every other first or second grader, trying to build them up—they had made a real difference in my life.
When He Realized Video Could Be A Career
When I was in college, I worked at a huge Christian camp. We saw thousands of students throughout the entire summer.
At the end of every week, they would create an amazing recap video of our time in camp. A lot of them were really emotional.
And it wasn’t Steven Spielberg and all these people that I couldn’t talk to or touch creating the videos. It was people who were right there in my circle, making theses videos that were having a huge impact on my life.
That was one of the early things that made me say, “Well, this could actually be a career.”
I thought that if I could impact somebody's life like my life had been impacted, that would be a game changer for me.
Ryan’s Favorite Things
The Brands That Have Spoken to Him
Apple
Late in college at my first job when I started playing with video, Apple was really coming on the scene. Apple and Steve Jobs and that whole world of thinking different was just was so inspiring for a long time.
When Steve passed away, my love and affinity with the brand changed. I still have mostly Apple products, but now I have a Google Home. Whereas ten or fifteen years ago, I'd have been like, “Oh my gosh, I would never!”
I think about Steve Jobs as a leader and a CEO. There are definitely things that I admire about him. But then I think, “Oh, I care about deeply about my family and relationships and things that he wasn't maybe so great at.”
And that’s funny, because I feel like there's a part of me that I try to be pretty careful with brands that I align myself with.
But I also know that we're all just human. We're all just trying to figure stuff out and putting certain people or brands on pedestals. It just doesn't always work out maybe the way that we hope or want to.
Disney
As cheesy as it sounds, Disney has been a brand that has inspired me. The idea of magic and experiences and creativity—those are things that I've always had an affinity with.
I love going to Disney World. I love bringing my family there. I love walking around by myself and just kind of seeing customer service done in such an excellent and unique way. Everything is intentional And there are so many things that are inspiring for me as a creator.
I love watching all Disney movies. It just makes my heart warm, and it reminds me of being a kid. But I also appreciate what Disney is today and how it even impacts me in a unique way as an adult.
They're not just trying to reach a seven-year-old kid. There's different parts of branding that they are trying to reach certain segments, but Disney wants them when they're young, and wants them when they're 70.
The Projects He Has Loved
The pieces that have meant the most are the ones that do something to me.
Continental Services
An in-depth look at what make the beef this company produces so special and high end.
For this piece, we spent time on the ranch. We got to film the cattle. We got to interview the cowboys. We got to interview the biologists.
Hearing all the passion of the people and all the parts that went into making it—that combined with the depth of the stories and the gorgeous, gorgeous scenery made for fascinating stuff.
Desert Flight
Promoting the sport of show jumping horses.
I love the intent of this piece. Before the project, I had no experience with horses—other than like I knew not to stand behind them.
If you know any horse people, they are a unique breed of themselves. And the people in this world of horses are some of the most incredible, humble, kind, and generous humans who I've ever met.
When I'm sitting across from an Olympic gold medalist who won gold with the US doing a horse jump—and he's sharing this story, and he's crying, and I'm crying, and we’re having this incredibly shared experience…
That’s why I love doing this work.
The Book That Most Inspired Him
One of my favorite authors is a guy named John Eldredge, and he wrote this book called Epic. I read it for the first time right when I was launching my company—which back then was coincidentally called the Epic Creative Group.
When I was starting my business, I was inspired by the idea that we all have these epic stories. Not everybody believes they do, and not everybody is a good storyteller. But my belief is that every person matters, and very person's story can influence and impact somebody else.
These were things that I was thinking about when John Eldridge came out with his book. It's a really short read, but it's really about the journey of our lives—and how important and significant all of our individual journeys are.
That book helped me remember what the most important part of this work is for me. And it's an encouragement to people to realize that your life has a significant purpose, and one of your biggest jobs is trying to uncover that purpose and to pursue it.
Ryan’s Best Practical Video Advice
Success May Not Mean “Going Viral”
I’ll ask my clients, “If you had 100 new customers from this video, would that change the trajectory of your business?”
And if the answer is yes, then you don't need a million views. You just need 100 views from your right audience.
So, let's forget about virality. You need to always start with the end goal in mind—and work backwards from there. What is success for your piece?
When we're working with brands on campaigns, we just need the right eyeballs on it. And a lot of times, it's not millions. It might be hundreds, or it might be thousands.
Address the Conflict Head On
I had a chat this week with an agency, and they were telling me about “this thing” that exists that none of us really know about. But it does exist, and science has shown that you could get a disease from it.
I saw the storyboard for the video. And I thought, “Oh, this is interesting… but you're not even addressing the problem. What's the conflict, and why do I even care?”
You always want people to be able to rally. You want people to rally for the character, and you want them to overcome the thing.
But if you don't describe “the thing” well enough—what is “the thing” that's in the way of us achieving our best life—it’s a story fail.
Every element of the story is necessary, but a lot of times people forego talking about the conflict. They assume it’s obvious. People know that this is a bad thing, so they start talking about the solution.
But you need to address my problem.
Think of the classic question, “Do you have back pain? Do you have a hard time getting on a bed?”
I hear that and right away I think, “Yeah, I actually do.” And you've got my attention.
But, if you don't address the problem, and you just say “Wear this back brace, and you’ll feel better!”
I think, well, I kinda feel fine already.
In our workshops, we start off with the dream—and have clients paint that picture.
But then we go deeper: What's in the way of getting there? What is the conflict? What is holding us back? What is keeping our character from achieving the dream?
Go Beyond the Product Benefits
Clients will often tell us their idea and tell us what has to go into the video.
And we say, “Okay, you just talked about all the features. We know all these bullets of what your thing does. But, you're not talking about the benefits.”
My favorite question to get to the benefit is “How is my life going to be different because of your thing?”
That's what’s most important. If you're not touching on that, then you're just like white noise. You’re competing with the other people that are competing on the same stuff.
You need to get to the heart and the soul of what your product is all about—what you're going to help people achieve and overcome.
Go beyond the features and the benefits. What are we trying to get to, and how are we going to help people?
How to Hire an Agency
Before you start looking, you need to get clear on what you want.
What do you really care about?
What's your long-term?
When a project's done, how do you feel like this is gone successful?
Then, look for companies that have a process for how they make great videos, and see what that process is.
Our process involves a workshop where we spend a lot of time with a client before we even hit record on a camera. And that was a huge difference maker for us.
I'm trying to encourage and coach other videographers to do the same thing. You'll get the most success for your clients and your team, and you’ll create long-lasting relationships
Process is super important, but also culture.
Are these people that you would want hang out with—because you're going be hanging out with them on set and afterward.
Are they organized?
Do they get the heartbeat of who you are?
If You Have a Low Budget…
I would spend my money on the thinking and the plan.
The beautiful thing in doing a workshop with us is we give our clients blueprints. Once they have that blueprint, they could actually go to any video company and say, “Here's the thought.”
People hire us for strategy, for coming alongside them with marketing ideas, and for input on how video is working in the marketplace today.
You need some kind of consultant at some level, whether it's the video company themselves or a branding person like you who would say, “These are the things that your audience needs to see and hear.”
If you have a plan going into it with clear expectations on what you want, you can always find somebody inexpensive who can shoot the video.
Ryan’s Closing Wisdoms
The Work Isn’t “Work” If You Love It
When you get in the zone and are just doing your thing, you could work till two in the morning and not notice. It doesn’t feel like work, because it's so fun.
And then when you give the piece you made to a person, and somebody else says, “It was awesome. I cried! I laughed! It made me feel something!”
Then you think, “Wow. This is super, super powerful.”
More People Making Videos is a Great Thing
I think there was a fear a long time ago when the iPhone first came out that this was going to make videographers irrelevant.
But I definitely don't think that the work that we do is irrelevant. There's still the story-telling aspect. And a lot of people still don't know how to hold their phone the right way to capture stuff.
And it’s awesome to have the video medium be so accessible to people. Twenty years ago, people had to write instead of make a video—because the gear was so expensive and the technology was just too hard to understand.
But today, my grandma could make a video if she wanted, which is pretty cool.
Video Is the Most Emotive Medium
Watching a final piece—you've got layers, you've got music, you've got facial expressions, you've got inflections, and you've got voice.
All of the things that we can see, we can hear, and we can feel.
Who You Work With Matters
I want to create with people that I would like go grab a coffee or drink with.
If I can pick the kind of clients that I have and the kind of work that we do, it's going be people that I really want to have shared experiences with and who have some shared core value. And people mattering is one of those core values.
Being a Great Leader Means Being Your Best Self
Walt Disney was a genius. Steve Jobs was a genius. They're just on this whole other level. And for a long time, I thought, “Man, I wanna be like that.”
But over time, I’ve realized that I just need to be the best version of me.
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About Me
I help early stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.