364: The Power of Personal Narratives: April Adams Pertuis on Storytelling

Harry Duran 00:00:00:

So, April Adams Bertwy, host of the Inside Story podcast, thank you so much for joining me on Podcast Junkies.

April Adams Pertuis 00:00:05:

Thank you, Harry. So happy to be here.

Harry Duran 00:00:07:

I'm always grateful for the different ways I get to connect and meet new podcasters. It feels I picked a topic area that I guess I'll never run out of content and I'll never run out of people to speak to.

April Adams Pertuis 00:00:17:

Yeah, your well is very deep, that's for sure.

Harry Duran 00:00:20:

Yeah, yeah. So we connected on LinkedIn, and I'm wondering, is that a platform you use normally? Do you. How do you make new connections? Or what's your networking look like lately?

April Adams Pertuis 00:00:29:

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, LinkedIn has been one of those interesting platforms that I literally got on. I mean, when did LinkedIn come out? Like, you know, early 2000s, maybe even before that. And I got on it because someone said, oh, this was when social media wasn't even social media. And so get on this thing. This is how you're going to be able to network and connect with people. And I remember at the time going, huh, okay, you know, I signed up and I've been built a profile. This was, you know, so long ago that my business and my life looks very different now, but. And then it just sat there for all those years, and it really wasn't until even I've had my business now, 10 years. But I don't really think I started paying attention to LinkedIn until maybe honestly, like three, four years ago.

Harry Duran 00:01:18:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 00:01:19:

And even now, it's still a work in progress because I am enjoying it more and more and more that I'm over there. Case in point getting, getting to meet people like you. And I've met some other really cool podcasters and people that I've been able to connect with and have great conversations with. And I'm like, I should spend more time on LinkedIn because it does. It is very fruitful. For the vast majority of the last 10 years, I just built on Facebook because it's where I already was, is just like connecting with friends from college and doing all of that. But then when I really started to learn how to use social media in a really strategic way, Facebook was first and natural for me. And I have a community there, so I spend a lot of time on Facebook. But LinkedIn really has been kind of like a really sweet surprise. And it's funny because I've had it all these years. Think about, man, what kind of LinkedIn guru could I be by now if I had listened to those people, you know, back at that seminar that I went to all those years ago. But, you know, timing is always exactly as it's supposed to be, and I'm there now.

Harry Duran 00:02:21:

So I think what happens is I was in corporate for 20 plus years, and you only think of it as like, I gotta refresh it when I'm changing a job. And people.

April Adams Pertuis 00:02:29:

Yeah.

Harry Duran 00:02:29:

And they only do when they get fired or they get laid off. They're just like, okay, dust off my.

April Adams Pertuis 00:02:33:

And it's just changed so much. It's no longer really that platform. So it's really interesting.

Harry Duran 00:02:37:

Yeah, there's probably more than that, but there's two distinct worlds. Like the nine of fivers who, like, that's their role, and then the people who are entrepreneurs and they've started to realize, like, the power and connecting with people that are in your space. And so, yeah, I think what's interesting is I'm surprised sometimes. And I see most podcasters or some that I speak to don't even put their podcast details on LinkedIn. And I was like, it's such a great platform. Like, one of the first things I did is when I started the two shows that I host, I put host as a job title. I was like, that's my. That's one of the job titles. And the funny part about the algorithm is it, like, notifies people like, Harry just celebrated, like, 10 years of podcast junkies. You know, I'll get all these messages, but it's a, like, nice little micro marketing for your show kind of way, because it's an opportunity for me to just let people know, like, oh, yeah, it's been, you know, start conversations about the show.

April Adams Pertuis 00:03:25:

Man, I'm gonna have to go check my LinkedIn profile and see if I even have mine set up like that. That's a really good point, you know, because. And that's the beauty of these conversations. We're always learning best practices from each other. And thinking about, oh, I hadn't thought about that, you know.

Harry Duran 00:03:37:

So you mentioned roughly about four years with the show.

April Adams Pertuis 00:03:39:

Yeah, it's been four years.

Harry Duran 00:03:41:

I would say, yeah, we'll get into the origin story. But if you had to look back at those four years, and I always say, like, for me, starting the podcast was probably transformational because I, you know, I own a podcast agency now. It's like I eat, sleep and breathe podcast. And it was like, one of the best decisions I ever made. So can you point to something that's like a big win or. This would not have happened had it not been for my podcast.

April Adams Pertuis 00:04:03:

You Know, honestly, I know that the easy answer is like, oh, I landed this great client or I got this cool opportunity. And yeah, those things have happened, but those honestly aren't my biggest wins, to be honest. My biggest win is that I have stuck with this for four years, weekly producing weekly a show every single week. I've taken one small hiatus, which was recently at the tail end of 2024. I took a about a six week break from the show, but we're back at it already. And honestly, that's the biggest win, is that despite the outcomes, right. Despite whether or not it has netted me dollars in the bank or huge opportunities that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or people that I've been able to meet that I wouldn't have otherwise, the biggest win is for what I use the. For what I get to talk about all the time, which is storytelling. I've really used it as a storytelling playground and it's been a really good excavation process for me and to me that I have really stuck with it. So I know we'll get more into the story, but I have a career of interviewing people, so interviewing people is really easy for me. And when I started the podcast, you know, you have to make a decision, okay, are you going to do only solo episodes? Are you going to do only interview, or are you going to do a hybrid of in between? Well, the easy button would have been for me to go, well, I'm only going to do interviews because I'm really good at that. And there was no way that I was going to do only solo episodes because that sounded dreadful to me. So I thought, okay, the real challenge then is to do a hybrid and really use those solo episodes as April, pushing April, which I have done, and so that I'm really proud of.

Harry Duran 00:05:44:

So let's go back to the beginning. You started in broadcasting. Was that always an aspiration for you growing up, that when you went to school and this is something that you knew you wanted to get into?

April Adams Pertuis 00:05:52:

It was. I fell in love with storytelling and people's stories and being curious about people. Probably just kind of born with a lot of that natural tendency, but fell in love with it as a kid just through my own practice of reading. Did a lot of reading and just got captivated by people's stories, both biographies and fiction stories. And when I went into college, discovered that there was such a thing as a journalism degree and that would be a pathway that I could just make a living, you know, talking to people and getting people's stories, which I thought well, that's a no brainer. You know, that's a really good idea. It wasn't so much about being. I ended up being in television. It wasn't so much about being on tv. I was just really looking for a way to do something that I thought was interesting and that would keep my attention. And it turned out that it, you know, I landed in television. That seemed like a kind of something they taught a lot of in the journalism department is a pathway a and it was a pathway for me in the beginning. And that's where I landed in the beginning of my career was as a television journalist working for a variety of CBS affiliates around the country and learned a lot. I mean, talk about, man, the things that job taught me that I still use to this day is we could do a whole podcast episode on that. But, you know, just taught me how to like, get people to trust me quickly because, you know, when you're going out and interviewing cops and lawyers and parents who maybe just lost their child, you have to get the interview, you have to get the story, and you have to do it very quickly because you're on a 5:00 deadline. And so I learned a lot about getting to the story, asking the questions that penetrate fast, but doing it in a way that allows people to trust you and allows you to let them in. That has served me really well in the rest of my career. And there were a lot of things about that I didn't like and you know, ultimately didn't stay on that path, but continued to work in production, if you will, and really worked with brands and telling their stories and was just still always in that storytelling vein. And so, yeah, I've always knew somehow I would do that just because I loved it so much as a kid and fell in love with it even more in school and then have found jobs and careers and now businesses that have just allowed me to continue on that path. So I'm one of the weird people out there that actually got a degree and have stuck with it for 30 years, which is an anomaly for most people.

Harry Duran 00:08:19:

Yeah, definitely. So if you can think back to your early days, like growing up, was it that you just like, loved reading or that you were just captivated? We talk about storytelling, right? Like as an early age, I remember the. I don't know if I'm dating myself now, the bookmobile, the little van would come to our school. Yeah, all these other books that weren't in our normal library in grade school. And I remember going in there reading like Encyclopedia Brown and All these, like. I just get captivated by those stories. I'm wondering what it was like for you.

April Adams Pertuis 00:08:47:

Definitely was a big reader. My mom was a reader. My sister was a reader. My grandmother was a reader. My grandmother had this library built in her house. Like, you know, they just. Homemade library, but it was like this tiny little closet that they turned into kind of sort of a room, and it was a library. And it was my favorite room in her house. Just to go in there and just sit around all those books. And then later, my mom simulated that she kind of built my bed into some bookcases. And growing up, I literally slept at night with all of these. At that time was fiction, all these, you know, like the, you know, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Edgar Allan Poe. And I loved poetry as a kid, for whatever reason, I loved poetry and, you know, just different little women and just, you know, stories that I can remember reading and series that I remembered being, you know, like, always getting the next book.

Harry Duran 00:09:37:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 00:09:37:

Yeah. And so I think that had a big part to do with it, for sure. The other dynamic is I'm the third child in the family. I'm the youngest, and my brother and sister are much older than me. So my sister is seven years older, and my brother is ten years older.

Harry Duran 00:09:53:

Okay.

April Adams Pertuis 00:09:53:

So it was almost like by the time I was coming up through the house, my siblings were high school and college. And so it was almost like I was being raised as an only child, even though I had siblings.

Harry Duran 00:10:07:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 00:10:07:

And at that time, my parents were so tired. Right. They were just like, we're tired of raising kids. And so I was left. This is going to sound like I was being abandoned. I had a great childhood. I really did. But, I mean, I was left alone a lot. You know, like, they're like, oh, April, just entertain yourself, you know, because we're not going to entertain you. Which really taught me a lot of independence. A lot. It taught me to, you know, figure things out on my own, which I love. I love all of these things. But so a lot of it was just spent time in my room. And if I was just in my room, I would typically be reading or journaling. Journaling is another big piece of my chemical makeup, if you will. Yeah.

Harry Duran 00:10:43:

When did the journaling start?

April Adams Pertuis 00:10:46:

Early. I don't even remember when it started. I can't ever remember a time that I wasn't writing something in a book and a journal. Yeah. Have the memory of not writing.

Harry Duran 00:10:56:

Yeah. It's interesting because I've had. I try to stay consistent, and I'VE been doing some free writing now in the morning, like 20 minutes. And I find that that's been really powerful and good. Sometimes the stuff that comes through, you're like it's coming from someone else or it's like my higher self or something like that. Because you can sense the moment when it's your mind is relaxing and the words are changing and but even the words that you're writing, it's like, I don't know if this is me writing this right now. Just it's fascinating process.

April Adams Pertuis 00:11:22:

It really is a subconscious of higher power, God, whatever. You're connected. Yeah, I just, it's really cool. It really is. It's like you just allow yourself to be a vessel in that moment and it is like very therapeutic. You know, always find there's some good stuff there that I'm like, wow, that's. I needed to read that. Thank you for writing that because I needed to read it.

Harry Duran 00:11:41:

Deep patting yourself on the back.

April Adams Pertuis 00:11:42:

Thank you. Uh huh. Yeah. There's been times I go back in my journal because I also, my experience is like a lot of times when I'm writing I'm feeling some sort of emotion. Usually that's how I process emotions. So whatever I'm feeling in that moment, it's coming out in my pen and onto the paper. I'm pretty tunneled vision in the moment. So what's beautiful is then like, okay, dump it, leave it alone, come back to it. And then I'll come back to my journal after, you know, a period of time, several weeks or whatever. And then I'll kind of flip back through the pages and remind myself what I wrote about. And that's when I really see stuff. That's when I'm like, wow, you know, okay, now some things make a lot more sense or oh, now that I've come down from that emotion, I can see things a little bit differently and you know, and I just have such appreciation for that process that. Yeah, I can't imagine, I just can't imagine not doing it.

Harry Duran 00:12:35:

Yeah, I've been on a spiritual journey probably for 20 plus years, probably going on longer than that. 20 plus years. I gone down all the rabbit holes and this idea of like, you know, everything existing at the same time, past, present, future. So it's almost like you're giving your, like your past self is giving your future self a message. It's. I love when I think about things like that.

April Adams Pertuis 00:12:52:

Have you read Julia Cameron's work by chance? With all of the artist way I.

Harry Duran 00:12:57:

Know the author, I Don't know if I've read it.

April Adams Pertuis 00:12:58:

I think I've read highly recommended for you and the listeners because if you're, you know, if you are a journaler or you're not, either way, like, she's got some really, really good tools and the Artist Way is a book, but it's really like a workshop in a book. O and she just kind of takes you through her methodology, which is all about free writing in the morning. She calls it morning pages. Yeah, morning pages and artist dates. Taking yourself on an artist date. And it's really just a process. So it's been fun for me to dig into it because, like I said, I've been a lifelong journaler, but I love upskilling anytime I can. And then again, for a listener who is like, oh, I've never really dug into journaling again, she would be a great resource. That book is fabulous. I recommend it to any chance I get to people.

Harry Duran 00:13:38:

Yeah, we'll make sure we drop that into the show notes as well. So this idea of you being, you know, somewhat on your own when you were a child and, you know, because your. Your siblings were much older, it sort of forced you to kind of be independent and find your own way. Is that a skill that you just sort of honed over time inside this self starter? And I got to kind of figure things out myself. It seems like from the arc of your career, that's been like a through line for you.

April Adams Pertuis 00:14:00:

Yeah, for sure. Hasn't been through line. And it's something I've paid attention to, you know, in retrospect, looking back over my life, and I can see it very, very clearly. And it's part of what I really value in my life now. It's something that, you know, that I love about myself. You know, those things that are like, I'm really glad that I'm independent. I'm really glad that I value free thinking a lot. And I don't think free thinking is being encouraged or taught in schools. And so it's something that I feel like is a strength of mine, and I value it when I see it in other people. So a lot of that has stemmed from there. Another kind of juicy part of the story is when I was in eighth grade, my parents also made the decision. We grew up in a really small rural community in East Texas, and there weren't a lot of opportunities. And my parents were both well educated. They were entrepreneurs and. But they lived there because, you know, their parents were there, my grandparents were there. It was just one of those Situations where they never really broke out of that town. They built businesses there, so they were pretty ingrained. And they also knew that the mindset of that community as a whole was pretty limiting. You know, we weren't seeing people go and, you know, create new jobs and solve world problems and things like that. So my mom knew again, kind of like raising a second family with me is, I think what she felt like she had learned. A lot of what she didn't like about raising my brother and sister. She's like, oh, if I had it to do over, I would do things differently. Well, I was the do over. And one of the things that she was just like, we gotta get her out of this town, we gotta get her out of this public school system. And so they sent me to a, you know, pretty prestigious all girls high school. Well, all girls schools really, Pre K through 12th grade. But I went in 8th grade. And so I actually went. It was part boarding school, part day school, but they had a boarding department at the time. And so I went into the boarding department in eighth grade. And this was just a few hours away from where we grew up. It was in Dallas. And so, you know, they were still kind of present. I moved away from home in eighth grade essentially. And literally I've never moved back. I mean, after eighth grade, I literally have been on my own. Now. I obviously had, you know, people at the school, we had hall counselors, we had people in charge and overseeing us. But even with that at that school, we were taught a lot about independence, free thinking. I mean, it was a lot. It was very advanced for women. And even in these days, you know, it was the 1990s and most women were not being encouraged to do a lot of things that we were encouraged to do. So it was really cool experience. It was life changing experience. It was a demarcation line that I can see in my life where at the time, at 14 years old, I went to that school kicking and screaming. I was homesick, I did not want to leave. I didn't understand why my parents were doing this. I was a good kid that got good grades. Why are you sending me away? Like all of it. And man, where I sit now in my 50s and looking back and I have a daughter who, you know, she's 16 now, but when she turned 14, I was like, oh my gosh, you know, this is the age that I did that I can't even imagine doing it now with my own daughter. It's so crazy. Of course we live in a little bit different world, but it was life changing and it taught me so much. It exposed me to culture. It was the first time I grew up as a Christian. I am a Christian and it was the first time I'd ever been around anyone of a different faith. Which school with it was a high Jewish population, so lots of Jewish people were at that school. I learned all about the Judaism, didn't know anything about it. Went to school with someone who was from India, met with school girls there from Mexico, from France. I mean they were literally from all over the world. And it just was so eye opening. And so again that little girl coming from that really small community, rural community, very kind of white America, you know, to that in it just like I said, it was very eye opening and a big imprint on my life, but definitely led to more of the independence and rethinking skills that I have.

Harry Duran 00:18:07:

Yeah, I mean that. A little bit of the same for me. My parents sent me to all boys Catholic high school and coming out of grade school you're just like what?

April Adams Pertuis 00:18:14:

You're like what?

Harry Duran 00:18:15:

Jacket, tie, like such a difference uniform and. But I think there was a lot probably in terms of like discipline and focus on learning. You know, the fact that it was all boys too probably helped because I did get good grades there and I can only imagine what my life would have been like in a public school. But. And then when I went, I did go away to college for a couple of years and again that first year college, you know, sociology class, reading the auto assigned the autobiography of Malcolm X and just your just mind is blown. She's just like the world just like what, what's happening? Like where is this happening? And so great that you had that experience. They had the wherewithal to give you that opportunity. And it's amazing.

April Adams Pertuis 00:18:51:

My mom is amazing. My mom is. Yeah, just someone that just, you know, not everyone wins in the parent department. And I scored especially with my mom. My dad was great, but like really it was my mom who drove all of these big decisions and she was just like, nah, I'm not having any of this, you know, and she just would do things different and she ruffled a lot of feathers. Back in those days, I can remember like literally being, I don't know, like, I think it was in middle school and I got, I rode the bus home every day and this is back when I was, you know, in a small community and my mom, my sister was in high school at the time and she. There was a dispute about some things that my sister was on the drill team was kind of like a dance team. This is so crazy. But there was a weight limit, right? They would weigh these girls every week. And if you were over the weight limit that some arbitrary person decided whatever that was, then you couldn't perform at Friday night's football game. Well, my sister struggled with her weight her whole life. She was not morbidly obese, but she just struggled. And she was dieting and taking diet pills and all kinds of stuff to try to make that weight requirement. And then she missed. And then she missed two weeks in a row, and they kicked her off the drill team. Well, my mom was like, no, no, no, we're not doing this. So she went and fought this at the school board. And again, you got to think rural Texas. We are talking cattle ranchers and, you know, doctors, and they ruled the town. And so there were no women coming in and complaining. And my mom comes barreling into the school board meeting and is like, you know, basically, this is bullshit. Like, you're not going to treat these girls like this. You're causing weight problem. I mean, anorexia and bulimia and other stuff. And the next day, I'm riding home on the bus, and I go to get on the bus, and the bus driver says, I'm sorry, we don't stop at your house anymore.

Harry Duran 00:20:44:

Whoa.

April Adams Pertuis 00:20:45:

Oh, that was a big reason why, my mom said. And we are exiting stage left, and we're getting out of this. We're not going to play these games.

Harry Duran 00:20:54:

That's crazy.

April Adams Pertuis 00:20:55:

Yeah, it's crazy. So you also can probably start to hear why I'm so passionate around. A lot of the work that I do is around helping women. Like, my mom was like, we're not going to do this as women. We're going to do things differently. We're going to use our voices. We're going to speak up. And it has a lot to do with, you know, what I believe storytelling can do for women today. You know, So a lot of that is, again, it's all rooted in my own story, you know, wow, what a powerful story.

Harry Duran 00:21:21:

And it just. It's clearly can show, like, how the path was created for you by those experiences and just the wherewithal for your mom to realize, like, then that's not. That's not gonna happen to my family. And in a way, a blessing, because it's like, it's just huge blessing.

April Adams Pertuis 00:21:36:

They show their huge favor, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Like, okay, thank you. Now we know. But I think a lot of women, even to this day, would be hard. But I, back then man, she really showed guts. She did. And she ruffled a lot of feathers. But I think secretly behind the scenes, a lot of women were cheering for her, you know. Oh sure, you know, maybe men too. But it just was definitely. I look back on that and again, I'm middle school. I don't really understand all the politics of everything in life yet, but I know that I got kicked off the bus for no reason in it.

Harry Duran 00:22:09:

Wow.

April Adams Pertuis 00:22:10:

I do. I didn't do anything. So it's really fascinating to look back.

Harry Duran 00:22:14:

Yeah, just like the narrow mindedness of like adults making decisions that affect like children in their most formative years is so backwards thinking.

April Adams Pertuis 00:22:24:

It's so backwards thinking.

Harry Duran 00:22:26:

That's so crazy.

April Adams Pertuis 00:22:27:

Yeah. So when I went from there, basically, you know, that was probably, that probably did happen in seventh grade. And then the very next year was when I went to the, you know, private school in Dallas.

Harry Duran 00:22:37:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 00:22:38:

And it was like, you talk about a pendulum shift, like from over here to way over here where it was an all girls school. I mean they were raising feminist, no doubt about it. And they were like, women, you can be anything and do anything. You're going to go to the best schools, you're going to get the best jobs, you're going to be leaders of businesses, you're going to be leaders in this world. I mean, they were pumping it into us.

Harry Duran 00:23:01:

Wow.

April Adams Pertuis 00:23:01:

It was the best experience ever. Like, I wish I could have that around me even to this day. I try to do it, but I mean, gosh, it was just like, it was just. I'd never heard such things before in my life other than through my mom. And to be surrounded about it around it day in and day out is just so cool. Like they never brought in men's speakers, you know, and they only brought in women speakers, only brought in women doing these things because I mean, we have plenty of examples of men doing great things. We had full examples of women going and doing this stuff. So it was really powerful.

Harry Duran 00:23:34:

Yeah. And I think it's just amazing to see that hopefully that's changing slowly. You know, there's signs of some of it regresses at times, but it's almost like, you know, just having that experience, it locks it in for you and just, you know that there's like you can be that example now. And I'm sure that in the work that you're doing now you're sort of like following through on that, you know, that experience that you received from your mother and just carrying that forward.

April Adams Pertuis 00:23:57:

Yeah, it is, you know, really important. I think A lot of times my clients probably don't realize what part of me they're getting, because. Oh, yeah, sure, I'll help you tell your story. Yeah, you want to write a book? Great, let's do that. But then I get in there and I will find some of the cracks, you know, And I come in, I'm like, no, you can do this. You know, And I get really fired up about some of those things because I have seen, like, you know, the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like I do believe it's there, and I've seen it. You know, a lot of people champion for that. It's just sometimes it gets murky out in the real world, and it's hard to remember those things. And so you gotta. You have to have somebody in your voice, in your ear, telling you these things. When will you forget it? And I forget it all the time, too. You know, I've had these experiences. There are times that I fall prey to just the negative thinking or, you know, the forgetfulness of what's possible. So I have to have those cheerleaders in my corner, too.

Harry Duran 00:24:53:

So we'll get into the coaching. But talk a little bit about the experience you had working at the production companies after you left broadcasting.

April Adams Pertuis 00:24:59:

Yeah, it was such a squirrely path. I mean, when I left television news, I really didn't know what I was going to do. I just. I had gotten married, and we kind of both, like, tossed a bunch of resumes out into the world and agreed whoever got a job first, that's where we were going to go. And my husband got a job first, and it took us across the country to the Carolinas, and I just up and quit my career, essentially. And I think everyone, you know, I was working at a CVS affiliate at the time, and I think everyone in my life, and I was, what, maybe 28, thought I was crazy. Like, what are you doing? You've worked so hard to build this career. You're, you know, you have an upward trajectory happening, and you kind of got an in now at the television station. But I already had seen, like, this isn't the work that I want to do. It's hard, you know, I'm like, shoving a microphone in people's face and at the most awful times, and, you know, a seed was planted. Like, these are not stories that I want to be responsible for sharing, you know. And so we left. We moved and moved across the country, and I didn't have a plan B. I didn't know. And the truth of the Matter is I actually went to work for a Bath and Body Works. So if you can imagine being a news anchor and reporter at a CBS affiliate and you know, decent sized market and you go, you know, you're upstanding community member, you're getting invited to things, you're like, you're this person. And then we move across the country and have a complete identity crisis. And I'm just for. Wasn't even really for work. I mean we sure needed money, but it was like, I gotta get outta the house, I gotta figure some things out. And I literally just took a job part time at a Thin Body Works. But I had an enemy back over there because nobody knew who I was moving to this brand new town. And it gave me just kind of a minute to think about it and figure it out, which was nice. And so it's kind of funny. Like that's a squirrely line that our careers can take sometimes. And then eventually we lived really close to Charlotte. And Charlotte was a hotbed for production back in those days. It still is to some degree, but it really was back in these days. And so I went over to Charlotte and I just started pounding on doors and really just trying to meet people at production companies. And I hired an agent. I was just trying to do, I was doing auditioning. I just again, a bunch of spaghetti at the wall just to try to figure out what could I do with the skills that I had. You know, I knew I was used to being on camera, I could talk and so I surely could find something in those arenas. And ended up kind of landing in front of a guy who ended up just becoming a really strong mentor of mine who saw that I had talent and skill, but could clearly see I didn't know what to do with any of it. And he just started guiding me and he was the one that really started helping me get landing jobs. And so I ended up at first being on camera talent for a few really fun things at hgtv, diy, Food Network and stuff like that. He was really plugged in over there. And then eventually I got really bored with that because you're just a talking head and you weren't using your brain at all. And I was like, I want to be behind the camera because I have too many creative ideas, you know, I'm too free spirited and I have, you know, I'm a thinker, as I just told him, independent, you know. So I really, I asked for guidance, like, how do I be a producer? How can I come behind the camera and start producing I knew a lot from being in television, but in the and broadcasting. But I really just learned, you know, how that side of the business works. And I had really strong mentors who were willing to give me experiences and they were kind of helping me on the side as I was navigating. And that's where I landed for quite a few years, hopping around to working with different producers and different production companies that were creating content for cable television essentially, and then eventually landed kind of another squirrely line is would just kind of ended up being landing in a space that I really enjoyed because I liked being in production and creating content that was creative. But I didn't like that it didn't always have a strong storytelling element. It was very formulaic television. So there was a formula that we had to, you know, shoot things a certain way and plug things in a certain way. And again, it kind of got monotonous after a while and I'm like, well, there's really not an opportunity for me to tell stories. So I ended up kind of landing and migrating over into the health and wellness world because then I got to start telling stories of transformation. So people making drastic change in their health or their wealth, their wellness, all of those things. And so I got to start telling stories of huge transformation stories of success stories, stories of top leaders at companies and what they were doing, success leads, clues. So I started to get to do those interviews and start telling those stories, which was really for the 15 years really before I started Light Beamer is what I do now. That's where I live. I loved it. And it really, you know, it kind of informed even what I get to do now because I was like, that's really what I love is getting to showcase people's transformations on what's possible even when we've been dealt, you know, a hand that maybe is less than desirable. It's just kind of like the idea that there is ability to change in all of us. You know, it's just what do we do with it? And so those were really fun stories to tell. I loved it. You know, got some award winning content out there during those days and it was a lot of fun.

Harry Duran 00:30:20:

What's a memorable story from that experience?

April Adams Pertuis 00:30:23:

Oh, gosh, there's a lot. There was this one company that hired me to do some segments that they would do every year for their national conference and it was hero stories. And they were just, you know, picking people from their company that was doing like, maybe they weren't the top seller, maybe they weren't the top producer. But they were a good human and they were doing some really cool stuff. And so I went on a string of those hero stories, and I would get to go and tell, you know, those stories. And so one that I remember, there's several that I remember, but one that was really cool was it was a guy here in Texas, and it was right after Hurricane Harvey had hit Houston. And this was, you know, 2017, I guess, around, and Houston got really hit by Harvey. And he lived up in the Dallas area, but he and some buddies literally just immediately got into action and they went down to Houston, they gathered up some boats and they gathered up a bunch of supplies, like just kind of snapped their fingers and pooled their resources and their networks and just made, you know, a really horrible situation a little bit easier with people. And they got in these boats and they went on a rescue mission. And that's really what it took back in those days on Harvey, hit just like any of these big natural disasters, you know, you can't wait for the fire department or the police to come rescue you. It's really citizens that get out there and help people. That's what he had done. He didn't even live in this community. And they drove and then Hurricane Harvey had also hit a big area in Louisiana. And after they worked in Houston, they rallied up another group and they went to Louisiana and worked down there and enjoyed his story so much. He was very humble. He wasn't doing it for the accolades. He was very surprised to get this attention from his company. And I guess that's what I remember most about his story was, yes, it was really cool and heroic what he did, but it's actually his humility that stood out to me the most. And I just loved him. I just thought, man, I'm so happy I got to do this interview with you today. You know, it was really cool.

Harry Duran 00:32:25:

Yeah, it's so important, like these unsung heroes that don't get the spotlight, you know, and there's so much of this happening on a daily basis, day to day basis.

April Adams Pertuis 00:32:32:

Yeah, I wish we could do stories like that every single day. Yeah, I do.

Harry Duran 00:32:37:

Very inspirational. So, you know, you've got all this experience now in production. Talk to me about the, you know, what's happening in your mind that's pulling you in this direction for what will eventually become Light Beamers.

April Adams Pertuis 00:32:50:

Yes. There was a period in your heart. Yeah, it was in my heart. And it just like. It was really cool, you know, like how things just evolve. And I was doing great work. Clearly, I loved What I was doing, I was getting to do great work. In those days, I would have been what you called a freelancer. I was not working for anyone. I was working for myself. I was already an entrepreneur. I just didn't call myself one at that time. And, you know, gigs would come in and gigs would go. And so there were times when I was working, times when I wasn't working. It was actually the perfect time. Cause it was during the time that I was having kids and raising a family. So it was really suitable to my lifestyle at the time. But I'm a creative at heart, right? I love. I'm a producer. That's like what's in my heart. And. And so I got really agitated on the times when I didn't have work coming in. And I would just be restless and like, I'm ready for the next project. Where's it coming from? You know, and part of it was like, you know, a lot of what I'm doing, I'm just like. It kind of just feels like a paycheck sometimes, you know, because it was pretty repetitious. It was a lot of the same kind of work. And I started kind of just saying, okay, well, I already really love what I do. You know, my career is kind of like at an 8 or 9 level. But what would it look like to try to take my career to an 11, you know, to go beyond a 10? And I did not know the answer to that question, but it was a. Again, my curiosity was just like, I wonder what I also could be doing.

Harry Duran 00:34:12:

What prompted that question for you?

April Adams Pertuis 00:34:14:

Because it's just the restless just. I was restless and I just, you know, I'm a. I don't sit still. Well, I get bored really easily. And so anytime I'm bored, I'm like, ugh, man, we gotta. I gotta be productive. That's how I'm wired. And I just. I think it was just the restlessness of, you know, and still. Even, like when I would get an assignment, it was still kind of dictated to. Like, this is what we need you to go do, right? Like, we need this one story. And I'm like, again, I just know there's like this. These vast stories out there. So this was around the time also in kind of context of historical times, was, you know, we are all on social media now. Like, this is 2014ish. I'm on social media and I see how people are storytelling on social media. And I'm like, oh, gosh, you know, like, that could be really improved, you know, like they're not. That's not helpful. You know, a lot of negative stuff, a lot of CNN stuff, right? And I just thought, man, if people only knew how to tell their story, there'd be a lot of really, like, this would be a lot more fun on social media if people actually knew how to tell their story. I just. Something about those two things, those two thoughts in my brain happening at the same time. Kind of curious, what else could I do with my career? How can I make it more productive and fun and more engaging and not like restless in the down times. And then coupled with paying attention to what I'm seeing in the marketplace. And again, I'm faith driven person. And I was in prayer about this at the time. I was literally in prayer about it a lot with, you know, God. Like, okay, you know, I know I have talents, I know I have strengths, but I want to be used. I want them to be used in a positive way. And this is great, but do you have more for me? Like, what else do you want me to do? That's literally what it kind of sounded like.

Harry Duran 00:36:02:

Sometimes you have to be careful with those.

April Adams Pertuis 00:36:03:

You really do in terms of what you get. Like, then these ideas started coming and I'm like, what? Like, it did not make a lot of sense to me at the time. And this is. I feel like you're up for this and your listeners are up for this. This just, to me, even just sounds a little cuckoo. But this is what happened. I started having this subconscious experience with the word light. And the only way I know how to describe it is once my consciousness caught up with the fact that this has actually been happening in my subconscious for a while. What had been happening was I would see the word light written on a page or on a book or whatever, and it would just be like everything on the page went away and disappeared except that one word, light. Like it's like a cartoon, you know, or sci fi movie. Like, everything disappeared except this one word. And we kind of jump off the page. Or I would be driving and I would hear in the car with no one with me, this, like, person's voice, light, light. And I'm like, what? So it was like it was in my subconscious, but it felt in my reality. And it was so weird. And again, I'm a big journaler, so I'd be journaling at night and I would just find myself again. You know how you talked about earlier? Just sometimes you're just writing things and you don't even know why you're writing them. Yeah, I found. And I still have this saved in my journal. I was just writing the word light over and over and over again because my subconscious was hearing it and thinking about it, and it was being delivered to me from the divine right. I didn't tell anyone about this for, like, four months because I'm like, what is going on? Like, even my husband.

Harry Duran 00:37:38:

Yeah, they'll start referring you to a psychiatrist.

April Adams Pertuis 00:37:40:

Yeah. I'm like, am I okay? But then I'm like, okay, what is this really about? What does light even mean? You know? And so I was like, okay, light. Well, there's two definitions of light, you know, one is like, it's not heavy, easy to carry. Like, it's light. And I was like, yeah, I want that. Like, I don't want heavy things to carry. I want things to feel light. And then light being, you know, something that illuminates the darkness, it illuminates the way. And again, I think that's what I was seeing on social media. Like, a lot of dark. It is still there, but, like, there's a lot of darkness. So, you know, there's a lot of just junk out there and people just spreading stories that are not relevant or important or matter. And what if we could use those stories in a way that would illuminate the way for others? You know, so all of this just kind of converged into my ideas coming forward, of I could teach people how to share their story. I actually know a lot about storytelling. I've been doing it for quite a while now, and I know how to interview somebody and extract the story out of them. What if I taught them that? You know, like, not everyone gets the luxury of having a video producer to show up at your house to interview you for the hero story that's going to play at the national conference. But yet there's so many of these great stories out there. What if we taught people how to. Actually goes back to many things I've shared already in this interview. To use your voice, to stand up for what you believe in, to speak, to take up space, to take up room, share your story, document it as your existence. Because if you don't do it, no one's going to do it for you.

Harry Duran 00:39:17:

Exactly.

April Adams Pertuis 00:39:18:

And that was really what came out of my thinking and my prayer and what God was handing to me and asking me to do. And that was light beamers. That's where I came up with light beamers. It's like, well, if we did that, we would be light beamers. We would carry a lighter load and we would illuminate the way for others and that's what we're doing.

Harry Duran 00:39:38:

Wow, that's so what. That's been 10 years. 10 years. So I'm sure that you've. There's been so many transformational stories from the people you've been working with.

April Adams Pertuis 00:39:48:

Yeah, I mean I have the best job in the world. It's amazing to see the human spirit at work and to see it present and to see when people will let it be out into the world and showcase what they've done. It's incredible. It gets so life affirming and gives me full of hope every single day. On my bad days, which I have plenty of. Right. We all have bad days. I just think about some of my clients or some of the women that I've met and just like, oh my gosh, if they got up that day and did that, I'm going to get out of my bad mood today and go do my thing. You know, it's really the coolest thing.

Harry Duran 00:40:20:

Ever from all the women you've worked with. And you've seen these transformations when you think about the before and the after. Where do people get in their own way, you know, whether it's a self limiting belief or something that they think that's not possible and obviously from working with you then they see what's possible. What's that common thread of the people that just are about to break through but they don't know it.

April Adams Pertuis 00:40:45:

Yeah, it's two different pieces. One is sort of their hang up around either this story is so big, I wouldn't even know where to begin because it's convoluted and it's messy and it's like, you know, when you, some people are walking around with these really big stories and they're overwhelming and it's like, well, how would I even. I mean I could go tell that story but my gosh, there's so many pieces to it and it's big and it's complicated and it's messy. So there's that they can get overwhelmed by that and then you have other people. And this is kind of where I fell in my category when I looked at my own story. Because I also had to figure out like, oh, if I'm going to go build this business, I'm going to have to tell my story too. Which was something we never did as a journalist, you know, never put my story out there because that was not my job. Which was interesting. When I looked at that, I'm like, I don't really have A story like, I'm kind of like, just vanilla over here. Haven't, you know, overcome some giant thing. I haven't had massive complications in my life. I'm just like a lot of other people, just going along, you know, day by day, and just navigating life as we do. And so you tend to think, well, then no one's going to be interested in that story. That's kind of boring. So that's one area where people get hung up is they think, oh, my gosh, it's so big, I don't know what to do it. Or it's so boring, no one would care. And none of that is true, right? Like, there is a way to navigate both of those. The other piece that people get hung up on is the way I talk about storytelling. A really simple framework of. I call it the story arc, you know, and this is not new information. I didn't invent storytelling. This has been around for, you know, since the beginning of time with the caveman days. You know, they would document stories, which is really just like, if you look at fairy tale, there's the before, the once upon a time, the hero comes in and saves the girl, and they live happily ever after. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. And so in the way that I think of it, there's a before. And that's usually some sort of struggle or pain or like, you know, something that's happening. There's the transformation again. I, you know, really always looking for the transformation, that something happens or something, you know, you become aware of something to where your perspective starts to change and you see things differently. Maybe it's a big moment in your life. Maybe it's a car crash, something like that, or maybe it's a season in life. Maybe it's going through a divorce. But something shifts and you start to see things differently. And then the other side of that is then, well, now what do you do? Like, now there's something that is different about you or, you know, something. Now you have knowledge, you have wisdom that you do something differently. Where most people get hung up is they get. Just get totally stuck in the before. Even though they've already been through a transformation and they have the knowledge and the wisdom, their mind and their heart, their emotions are still tied to the thing that was hard, right? And they don't even give their identity. They're all stuck there, and they're not even giving themselves credit for the thing that they've gone through and overcome. They're still stuck in the shame or the feelings of whatever it may be of, you know, like, just use a divorce. Someone went through a divorce. Well, he didn't love me enough anymore. Like, oh, I wasn't good enough. No, you survived divorce. You went on, you did all these amazing things, and you're still stuck in this emotion that's just no longer serving you, and it's certainly not going to serve anyone else. Of course you don't want to go tell that story because you're looking at it all wrong. So we just really need to help them see that there's so much more to their story than the point of impact. Right. There's so much more beyond that. So I always tell people, you got to get to the dot, dot, dot. Yes. That happened to you. And then what?

Harry Duran 00:44:20:

And then what?

April Adams Pertuis 00:44:20:

And then what? Let's get to the dot, dot, dot. There's more to the story. You're just hung up in a piece of your story that you can't see past.

Harry Duran 00:44:26:

That's lovely. Thank you for sharing that.

April Adams Pertuis 00:44:28:

Yeah.

Harry Duran 00:44:29:

So talk a little bit about where this idea for the podcast came up, because I, you know, you obviously have your hands full. Your coaching. You know, you started the coaching around the same time I started my agency in a year after I started podcasting myself. And I thought I was late at the time.

April Adams Pertuis 00:44:42:

Oh, my gosh.

Harry Duran 00:44:43:

What was happening in your world and why did you feel like that was, like, the next step for you?

April Adams Pertuis 00:44:48:

Well, I mean, part of my own business, you know, is looking for ways to increase my visibility. Just from a good marketing standpoint, we should be looking at ways that we could be getting our own voices out there. And, you know, at the time, it was pretty. I was just really, really relying on social media and had done. And that was great, you know, but I knew there was more. I've come from a media background. I knew there was leverage that I was missing out on. So just from a strategic and knowledge standpoint, I'm like, yeah, podcasting makes a lot of sense. I should go do that. What I got hung up on was because I come from this really highly professional background where the videos look amazingly good, because I have all this huge team that makes all of our videos look amazing. Now it's just me, right? I'm running this business by myself with, like, a VA in the Philippines. Right. Like, it's just me. And I don't have a giant team. I don't have all the fancy editors. I don't have high def cameras. I couldn't think, like, how to make this podcast Be like the ultra slick, you know, production that I was used to. So for a long time, I didn't start because basically I was waiting for it to be perfect. Right.

Harry Duran 00:46:01:

And sounds familiar.

April Adams Pertuis 00:46:03:

So very familiar. Right. So, yeah, so I was getting hung up there. But eventually, what made me decide to start it is like I knew it was a good idea. I knew it would be great for visibility. And I, again, I had not. I was still in my business and still am. This is in a constant evolution of me is practicing telling my own story. Because as I said as a journalist, we weren't telling our stories, we were telling everyone else's stories. So the vast majority of my career, and even when I started Light Beamers, I was focused on helping other people tell their story, figuring out how to do it for them. So I was still immersed in other people's stories. It was when I realized, oh, well, part of marketing is going to be you need to put yourself out there. People need to know your background, they need to know your stories, they need to know your vulnerabilities to humanize my own brand. And that was an extreme. So I can really empathize with my clients because it was a really uncomfortable position, and even though I knew how to do it, it didn't make it any easier. So part of the podcast for me was in the name Inside Story was there are. There's like this real inside story. The struggle of what we're going through when we're trying to do these things, when we're trying to launch brands, when we're trying to put ourself out there, when we're writing books and stepping on stages and launching podcast, it's requiring a lot internally from us. That is just not easy. And, you know, I just wanted to normalize that and be an illustration of that through my solo episodes, being like, okay, guys, here we go again. I'm gonna try and tell one of my stories now, you know, and here goes. And I was digging out stories that were really uncomfortable, but I knew were relevant, and I needed to practice being a better storyteller if I was going to teach this to other people. And I just kind of wanted to walk my talk, and I just finally landed on the fact that the podcast could be a really great kind of playground for me to do that. So that was ultimately what really actually got me to pull the trigger. I was like, okay, I need to do that for myself, you know, which is why I told you that's why it's the biggest win for me. Like, I'm still doing it four years later. I didn't bag out. I didn't go, okay, enough. I told enough stories. I'm done, you know, and we do. We have interviews too, so, you know, we mix it up, but that's really why I did it. And that's what the name kind of signifies.

Harry Duran 00:48:18:

What's been the biggest challenge with the show?

April Adams Pertuis 00:48:20:

Keeping it going week after week after week. I have a great team. I have, you know, hired an editor, and my VA helps so much, like the production side of it. I feel like we have dialed in and we got a good system and we have a great system, actually. And so that it really does free me up to be the creative person and be the one that's driving the content. But at the end of the day, there are days that it's like, you know, just keeping that going week after week and coming and making time to sit down and record. It's just kind of the minutiae of it sometimes is the hard part. It's not really coming up with ideas, but it's just there is a lot of other stuff going on. And, yeah, it's just. I guess that's it. It's just the minutia. But the reason why I do keep going is because I just try to stay tied to the why are we doing this? And, you know, then also, podcasting is just kind of a lonely world because, you know, we love reviews, but people don't seem to love giving them that. It's time consuming and they forget and it's just not top of mind. That's not their priority. But gosh, man, like, sometimes just going and reading a new review, it's like, okay, all right, I can do this again. I'll get going again this next week. It's really helpful. But when you don't have that and you're just in front of a microphone by yourself. And that's why I appreciate conversations with other podcasters, because I always hear the same thing. They're saying the same thing now. It's like such a lonely world. And so those have been some of the hard things about podcasting.

Harry Duran 00:49:48:

Yeah. I think when people encounter podcasters, they think they're naturally, like, extroverted, like, from going to podcast conferences. It's so funny because most people are like, I call them myself, situationally extroverted. So I'll go to the conference, I'll be like, hanging out, talking to everyone, because I see some of my old friends there, and, you know, it can definitely start up conversations. And then the podcaster in me gets naturally curious and all that stuff. But then once I'm home, it's just. It'll just, like, wind down and there's like, totally takes a lot out of me. And so it's not for. And some people are, like, naturally outgoing, and they just keep it on all the time. But I definitely agree with you. Like, it's something that I don't think I'll ever give up because I would miss it. Like, you would miss me, too. Just, I'd look forward to these conversations. And it's not like this huge show or this big money on her, but it just keeps, like, I, you know, we talked about earlier, just, you know, keeps the, you know, the iron sharpened and, you know, it does keeps me just engaged and it helps me with my clients and my students. Just kind of, oh, I just learned this from this interview. I just kind of picked up this tip and even just ideas on how to market the show and exploring, like, the new world of YouTube and how to, you know, get visibility there. And so there's always something to tweak and play with the show. And I think it's always, like, a. An ongoing project for me.

April Adams Pertuis 00:50:58:

And I'm sure you've seen this, too, because how long have you had this show? It's been a while.

Harry Duran 00:51:02: 2014.

April Adams Pertuis 00:51:03:

Yeah, over 10 years now. Right? That's a. Yeah. Big show. You know, my experience. And I'd be curious if this has been yours, too. Like, I've. Even though we have, like, seasons, right. But I'm like, man, the show really has had its own identity over the years, and they have shifted, you know, from year to year. And even the season that I think I'm in now and where I'm at with my show coming off that hiatus that I took at the end of the year, which I'd never done, you know, I was so determined to not have POD Fade, as they call it. I'm like, no, that's not going to be me. And I was kind of nervous about even taking a hiatus, but when I came back, I was like, oh, like, I'm so ready to talk again, you know, and I'm ready to put my ideas out there. And I feel like I'm even in a new season in this podcast now where I feel like it's had its own kind of voice this season. It's like, I really, really, really, really want it to be the voice of storytelling. And I haven't always said that on the podcast. Even though I work in the world, storytelling and storytelling is so important to me and what I want to talk about in the world. But I don't feel like the podcast, even though it's called the Inside Story, I feel like it's taken me four years to literally get here to where I'm like, oh, this is the season that we are all about storytelling. Which might just sound so hysterical, and it kind of does, but I feel like we're just getting our stride on, you know? So it's really interesting how I can look back and see that.

Harry Duran 00:52:31:

Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah. Because sometimes you can't see the progress if you're just kind of looking back day to day, and you just have to, like, take the time and see where the arc of your journey has taken you with regards to the show, and you start looking back at the conversations over the years. How have you grown or improved or evolved as a host or as a storyteller with your own podcast since you.

April Adams Pertuis 00:52:52:

Started as a host? I feel like I've grown because that's been a. Maybe a more challenging one to figure out how to grow there. Because I guess a couple of years ago, I sat down and I'm like, how many people do I think I've interviewed in my career? You know, I haven't documented every interview that I've done, but I had a pretty good idea from the number of years that I've done certain things and what those days look like. And now what I've done at Light Beamers, I've quantifiably figured out that I've probably interviewed 10,000 people in my career, which is pretty significant. Yeah.

Harry Duran 00:53:26:

Wow. Wow.

April Adams Pertuis 00:53:28:

And when I saw that, when I really. Because I was like, I'm not going to say that number unless I really think I can back that up. And I'm like, yeah, I really think I can back that up, you know, so when I saw that on paper, like, when I did the math and was like, wow, that's a lot, you know? And so I don't. I think the podcast has had its own, like, tweak to my improvement there. But I would really say that over the course of the 30 years that I've been doing this and I've had those 10,000 ish interviews, I feel like I've really under. I really know that I'm able to ask the better questions, the harder questions. I'm not interested in fluff, and I will go quicker to things that I really want the person talking about. And so I've gotten, I guess, just sharper in the way that I'M able to do that. I've also, I think I've been just how it's helped me is. And it has always helped me. It just increases my compassion for people. Like, I've heard people sometimes sit down and start to tell me their story and they're like, okay, like, you know, you probably never heard this before before. And I'm like, I probably have, actually.

Harry Duran 00:54:37:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 00:54:37:

So it's okay. I'm, you know, I don't come from a place of judgment. I'm really here to hear you and listen. I want to be your audience. And so really learning to do that has helped so much. Just really learning. I think early days of my career, I was always thinking about my next question, you know, and I know a lot of pastors think that, what's my next question going to be? I never write down questions anymore, ever. I'm much more in tune and present with people. I'm much more compassionate and I actually hear their story so that I can also hear what they're not saying and be able to ask the question. And I've just let go of what is it supposed to look like and what am I supposed to get out of them? What's the end result of the story that I've been hired to get right? I just have. All that has gone away. And so that's the freedom that I have in my career now is that I don't have someone paying me to do a story a certain way. And then it's allowed me to really just be present with people and ask questions and let the interview go where it goes. Kind of like how you, your style is very much that way too, which is why I appreciate it.

Harry Duran 00:55:38:

Yeah, I just really enjoyed kind of going with the flow. And I can't believe an hour's gone by.

April Adams Pertuis 00:55:43:

I know that's one of the.

Harry Duran 00:55:44:

Just a couple more questions to wrap up, but I'd be remiss if I didn't ask, is there like something. I don't want to call it a tip or a tool or a tactic, but how do you get people to open up quickly? You know, was this something that you learned or is this something that you kind of like a little tip for. For podcasters just getting started, especially with interview based shows?

April Adams Pertuis 00:56:02:

Yeah. This is something that I have really had to learn. Right. I told you back in the early days, I had to figure out how to do things quickly. And honestly, it's such a basic thing, but the simple thing of just smiling at people, like when you enter a room or you show up for the interview, be there, be a hundred percent there. Don't, like, check yourself in the car before you get out of the car or before you open up your zoom or squad cast or whatever. Like, be on, be ready, be there. I've just learned that this carries over in my life, too. Now, this is kind of a cool side effect, but I learned when I was going into that house or I was going into that police station or wherever I was going in, like, when I got there, I had to be ready, and I had to show that I was open, that I was friendly, that I was here to listen to both sides of the story, that I was not a place of judgment. I had to, like, emit that energetically because I didn't necessarily have the words or get the opportunity to say those words. So you have to just literally beam energy from yourself telling people with your heart, this is heart math. This is real science heart math that says, I am a safe place. I'm here to listen to you. I am not judging you, and I want to hear your story. And that takes some practice. You need to practice that. But look up heart math. It's a real thing. You literally can use your heart to enter the room first with your heart and inter the room with that mentality. Give yourself that pep talk before you show up and say, okay, I'm here for them. I always say the number one rule of storytelling is who is your audience? Remember that first? Who are you talking to? Who are you trying to reach? Who are you trying to get right? It's about them first. It's not about your agenda, your outcomes, your beautiful interview. It's about their story and them. So, like, you got to come in the room with that, and that starts in your heart.

Harry Duran 00:57:54:

That's powerful. I got the truth.

April Adams Pertuis 00:57:57:

Like, don't ask me how I figured that out. I mean, again, 25 years old and hitting the streets, I made a lot of mistakes, for sure. But again, I think it was just the divine showing me that there are ways to do this and to do it well. And I'm going to outfit you with the skills that you need to be able to go down this path, because I'm going to use you here, right? So now I get to share that with someone else who may not be a journalist by trade or do a lot of interviews like I do. So if you can use that and you can practice that, it's a ninja tip that's gonna change the way you even go into networking meetings or go to those podcast shows. And you're overwhelmed by all the people.

Harry Duran 00:58:34:

I love how you brought it back full circle to the beaming of the light and the light beamers and it just kind of tied it all together. So I don't know if that was intentional, but that was beautiful. Thank you so much.

April Adams Pertuis 00:58:42:

It's kind of fun.

Harry Duran 00:58:43:

So, last two questions I ask all my guests. What is something you've changed your mind about recently?

April Adams Pertuis 00:58:48:

That's a good question. Yeah, you know, there's been some big decisions that I've made in my business that I've changed my mind on. Like, at one time we would do things a certain way and now I'm like, yeah, we're not gonna do that anymore. Just change my mind. I don't wanna do it.

Harry Duran 00:59:04:

Yeah, always have an open mind in terms of, like, I think about that, saying, what got you here won't get you there.

April Adams Pertuis 00:59:10:

You know, I've been thinking a lot about that as well. That exact statement, because light beamers turned 10 this year in 20. And I have been thinking about that. I'm like, you know, what got me here the last 10 years is not going to be what's going to get me to the next 10 years. I have to evolve, I have to change. I have to be, you know, available for new ideas and new ways of being. And so that's where some of those decisions have come from. Like, oh, okay, yeah, we're not doing that anymore. We've done that and we can put that to bed. And now we get to try something.

Harry Duran 00:59:46:

Evolving, growing. Shedding skin.

April Adams Pertuis 00:59:48: Yeah, yeah, evolving and growing. And that goes back to my nature of like, getting bored quickly, you know, so, you know, like, yeah, we're not going to do that anymore.

Harry Duran 00:59:57: So what is the most misunderstood thing about you?

April Adams Pertuis 01:00:00:

I think I come across as like, really sweet and open and joy filled and light and, you know, positive Pollyanna. And I do like that. Those parts of me, I think people are actually surprised about how kind of like sharp tongue God can be. Like, with my clients and with people in my inner circle, I will speak freely and I will say things that you actually need to hear. I think you need to hear. And I'm not going to sugarcoat things. I'm a very direct person. And so I will do that in a way with love and kindness. But I also am not going to stand. I just feel like I'm the person that's not going to stand for your mediocrity. And so, like, if you're playing small, I'm going to call you out on it, you know, and I think that's surprising to people when they start getting that from me because that's maybe not part of my marketing, you know, so they get inside, they're like, wow, you're kind of like a crazy woman. Like, yeah, you need to hear it.

Harry Duran 01:00:53:

You know, that's wonderful because, you know, if you think about them, the reason they came to you is because they're stuck. And they've been probably in the repetitive pattern and like, they need that tough love medicine to just kind of like. And then I'm sure for some of them, you could probably see the reaction in her face. It's like a wake up call. Like, oh, you told me what I've been like, probably believing in my heart all this time and you're calling me out on it and it's uncomfortable and I don't want to hear it, which means I need it to hear it.

April Adams Pertuis 01:01:21:

Yeah, it does. I mean, and you know, and I just, I know. I appreciate that when people do it for me because like I said, gosh, I get stuck in my own ways and I have moments where I'm totally playing small. And I so appreciate the strong voices in my life who are being like, april, come on. No way. You know, you're not gonna do that.

Harry Duran 01:01:44:

It's important to have a circle of, you know, people that are calling you out. When I get started leaving that will.

April Adams Pertuis 01:01:49:

Yeah.

Harry Duran 01:01:50:

Leaving my corporate job and I was getting into digital marketing and entrepreneurial space. That was brand new. I. That Jim Rohn quote, man, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And I was like, I gotta change my circle because to. I need to be uncomfortable for a bit.

April Adams Pertuis 01:02:03:

It is so true, you know that who you surround yourself with is so key.

Harry Duran 01:02:08:

Well, I'm glad I surrounded myself with your energy in this conversation and oh, I just likewise. Never know where these are going to go, but I'm feeling into them lately and just feeling like, oh, I'm getting good vibes just from our, like, small interaction. And I saw your website. I mean, I'm like, oh, light beamers. Okay, this is going to be good. And then to see in the work that you're doing and then. And obviously I felt like that feeling I had was the right one because this has been just a beautiful, like, just open, heartwarming conversation for me and just the type of conversations I want to have. Like, I want to look every time on the calendar when I have these booked and be excited that I'm about to have a conversation on the show and, you know, everything you share just sort of validates that. I feel like I'm on the right path when these happen because I'm just glad we found each other and I get to tell your story and share your story with my audience as well. So thank you so much for everything. You were open enough to share and I know that your words are going to inspire people. So I appreciate you.

April Adams Pertuis 01:03:00:

Well, thank you, Harry. I think it's really cool. The story of how we did connect. It seemed random at the time, but I know it wasn't random at all. And it was. We were supposed to be here today. And I just really, really appreciate the opportunity to share me with your audience and to share, if nothing else, to maybe just get them inspired about their own story. And that would be a win in my book.

Harry Duran 01:03:19:

So, yeah, I'm sure that's going to happen. So where's the best place for folks to connect with you in the show and figure out ways to work with you as well?

April Adams Pertuis 01:03:25:

Well, I'm definitely going to say LinkedIn for sure.

Harry Duran 01:03:27:

Yeah.

April Adams Pertuis 01:03:29:

Come on.

Harry Duran 01:03:30:

Yeah, find me on LinkedIn. Yeah, for sure.

April Adams Pertuis 01:03:32:

Yeah, find me on LinkedIn. Light beamers, really? Everywhere. We use Light Beamers handle on all the platforms, but the main ones that we are on, I'm not a tiktoker, so I'm on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Harry Duran 01:03:43:

Okay.

April Adams Pertuis 01:03:44:

And LightBeamers.com is my website. And yeah, I would love to hear from anyone that wants to reach out. I'd love to chat.

Harry Duran 01:03:50:

Yeah. And you provided us all those contact details, so we'll make sure everything is in the show notes so no one gets to get worried about, like, listening and taking down notes and stuff. So thanks again, April. Really, again. Really enjoyed our beautiful conversation.

April Adams Pertuis 01:04:01:

I appreciate you coming off me too, Harry. Thanks.