20. Scrappy by Design: How an Anthropologist Became the World's Innovation Storytelling Expert with Susan Linder

Susan Linder is not your typical consultant. A cultural anthropologist from the Bronx who hitchhiked through Central American war zones, trained as an AIDS epidemiologist, and stumbled into PR on a blind date, she has spent 30 years proving that the right story - told the right way - changes everything. Today she is the Founder and CEO of Innovation Storytellers and recognized as the world's leading expert on innovation storytelling. Jack and Susan trace her path from answering her dad's tool-sales phone at eight years old to working in Thai brothels in the 1990s and eventually helping Fortune 100 companies like GE, AT&T, and Citi win funding, drive acquisitions, and get their breakthrough ideas across the finish line. Along the way: why fear is a terrible long-term motivator, what it actually means to be the hero of your own story, and why innovation teams keep getting their credit stolen. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction and the koala fingerprint fun fact 00:48 - Scrappy roots: immigrant parents, a station wagon full of tools, and the family business 05:00 - Sitting with the adults: growing up curious and always interviewing 08:00 - Phones, orders, and selling at eight years old 09:00 - Flea markets, freelance gigs, and financing college yourself 13:00 - Discovering cultural anthropology by accidentally inventing it 16:00 - Junior year abroad and hitchhiking through Central American war zones 22:00 - Thailand, HIV, and the storytelling insight that changed everything 29:00 - From the CDC to a blind date with a Forbes editor to the PR world 34:00 - Building Innovation Storytellers: the scrappy evolution from Lotus to today 37:00 - Helping innovation teams pitch the Joint Chiefs, the CFO, and everyone in between 39:00 - Lightning round: ChatGPT jokes, inbox zeros, and the font formatting confession Connect with Susan: https://www.innovationstorytellers.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanjlindner/ https://www.instagram.com/innovationstorytellers/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCId9xpyIaSwD25Z9ZsiZ3-g https://www.facebook.com/InnovationStorytellers Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ https://www.pineapplecf.com https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng