Park Howell
November 12, 2026
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On this episode of Up Next, Park Howell, founder of The Business of Story and author of Brand Bewitchery, joins me to discuss what he calls narrative entropy: the gradual fragmentation of a brand story as people adapt it across the business.
We explore how a story becomes useful in daily decisions, and what leaders need to do to keep it that way:
Start with the customer’s problem. Howell explains why the customer is the hero and the brand has a supporting role. The And, But, Therefore framework begins with what the audience wants, identifies the obstacle, and introduces how the company helps.
Give the conflict room. Corporate communications often skip the uncomfortable part of the story. Howell argues that naming the customer’s frustration is essential to explaining why the company’s offer matters.
Test what the organization understands. Ask department leaders to independently describe the primary audience, what that audience wants, and the problem the company solves. Comparing their answers can expose differences that polished messaging conceals.
Plan for the champion’s departure. A leader can hold a story together through personal conviction. The conversation examines what happens when that person leaves and successors start rewriting it. Shared responsibility and checkpoints help preserve continuity.
Give AI a consistent foundation. Different inputs can produce different versions of the brand. Howell describes how StoryCycle Genie uses a protected brand foundation to inform strategy and content, while allowing teams to incorporate new learning.
A campaign can change as goals and circumstances change. The underlying story needs enough substance to guide the company’s decisions through those changes. This conversation asks leaders to examine where that guidance lives, who maintains it, and whether people across the business understand it.
Park Howell is known as The World’s Most Industrious Storyteller helping leaders of purpose-driven brands grow by as much as 600 percent. His 40+ years in brand creation include 20 years running his own ad agency Park&Co. He was named Advertising Person of the Year in 2010 by the American Advertising Federation of Metro Phoenix. The following year, his agency was recognized among the Top 10 Impact Companies in Arizona by the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
He is the EMMY Award-Winning founder of the Business of Story, a proven platform based on his 10-step Story Cycle System™ to clarify your story, amplify your impact and simplify your life. His popular weekly Business of Story podcast is ranked among the top 10 percent of the most downloaded podcasts in the world.
Park recently launched the StoryCycle Genie™, which helps business leaders craft a lucrative brand story in minutes, not months. The Genie uses his proven Story Cycle System™ that has grown brands by as much as 600 percent.
His 2020 book, Brand Bewitchery: How to Wield the Story Cycle System™ to Craft Spellbinding Stories for Your Brand, helps readers clarify their brand story and teaches how to tell it through three proven narrative frameworks to captivate audiences and convert customers. His next book The Narrative Gym for Business, is a short 75-page guide on how to use the ABT (And, But, Therefore) foundational narrative framework to make all of your business communications compelling.
Park consults, teaches, coaches and speaks internationally. He has guided hundreds of brands and grown thousands of leaders and their people in such organizations as Dell, The Home Depot, Hilton, Cummins, Walgreens, Banner Health and the United States Air Force.
He is a graduate of Washington State University and combines his degrees in communications and music composition and theory to help leaders excel through the stories they tell.
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