The Power of Storytelling with Anna Codina, Content Strategist – Issue #279

She also shares her global entrepreneurial journey

My guest for this episode is my good friend Anna Codina from Costa Rica. She is a content strategist with over a decade of experience in the industry and has worked with brands such as Adobe, Evernote, and Wildlife Fund.

Anna’s simple content strategy attracts the top 10% of her client’s best-paying customers and helps busy entrepreneurs create relatable storytelling and purposeful messaging.

She is a former self-taught web developer and co-hosts the Brave New Workforce, a podcast that dives into the future of work. Anna is also a professional hula hooper and has appeared on a number of local TV stations and was a former online radio host for the expat community in Asia. 

Originally from Singapore, Anna lives in Costa Rica and the U.S. She speaks English, Spanish, and basic Cantonese.

Key points from our conversation

I want to call out a few points from my conversation with Anna to help you if you are struggling with attracting employers and recruiters, telling a compelling story about yourself, or feeling powerless about your future.

The power of storytelling

Anna talks about the power of storytelling and how she uses it with her clients. All too often, companies and people create boring content that no one will ever read, listen to, or watch. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

You can immediately elevate your content using the power of interesting personal stories. Make it relatable and relevant, and you will engage, excite, and energize your audience.

By the way, using compelling storytelling doesn’t only apply to the marketing campaigns of large corporations. Smaller startups, solopreneurs, and even individuals who want to build their personal brands (e.g., so they can stand out and become opportunity magnets) can definitely benefit from using this strategy.

Taking control of your path

Anna shares her career journey from a self-taught web developer at 15 years old to a professional hula hooper to writer and content strategist. She’s certainly one of the most flexible career changers I’ve known.

She’s been running her own businesses since she was a teenager. She learned to constantly adapt to the market demands and overcome the “feast and famine” cycles that consultants and solopreneurs often endure.

What I’ve noticed about Anna is that she is always learning, finding mentors, taking courses, and teaching herself something new. She’s never been tied down with a 9-5 employer who would put her in a box and constrain her ambitions.

Freedom and flexibility

We also discuss the joys and pains of running your own business. You need a lot of self-discipline, and there are certainly risks in self-employment. But, she loves that she essentially gets paid to learn new things. There’s never a dull moment!

She also enjoys the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world. A few weeks ago, she was vacationing in Mexico and could still keep up with her work, record a podcast episode, etc.

The freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur also allows you to explore hobbies and activities outside your professional life. And, guess what that does?

Yep. It gives you even more interesting stories to tell later.

⬆️ Scroll to the top if you want to listen to our full conversation and hear about how you could work with Anna 🎧

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Larry Cornett is a leadership coach and business advisor who also runs a professional and supportive online community for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs (join us!). He lives in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with his wife and children, and a gigantic Great Dane. He does his best to share advice that can help others take full control of their work and life. He’s also on Twitter @cornett.