Becoming a Magnetic Brand and Storyteller with Christy Renee Stehle
- mgraziano45
- 1 minute ago
- 4 min read
When it comes to creating a brand that draws people in, it’s not just about great marketing or clever messaging; it’s about authenticity, alignment, and storytelling. That’s what this week’s guest on Adventures in Business, Christy Renee Stehle, is all about.
Read on to hear Christy, a storyteller, speaker, and branding expert, explain what makes a brand (and a person) magnetic, why reinvention is essential, and how living your message changes everything.
Meet Christy Renee Stehle
With over 10,000 hours developing brand identity and messaging for billion‑dollar brands like Saia LTL Freight, Claire’s, Chick‑fil‑A, and the American Heart Association, Christy is a dynamic speaker, coach, and consultant who helps organizations stand out and scale through four communication shifts that accelerate growth.
A 2025 Best of Stage ‘Life Changer’ Smart Speaker Award recipient, Christy’s work is driven by a deep commitment to transformational growth and community impact. After overcoming chronic illness in 2015, she sold everything to live across 35 countries, gaining a global perspective that now shapes her vision for Atlanta as a nationally recognized model for community‑centric values.
Her dynamic presentations have been reviewed as “authentic connection for the industry’s next generation,” “a must for anyone who’s human,” and “the most impactful of the entire month of the Mindvalley convention.”
What Makes a Brand Magnetic?
If you want to know what makes a brand magnetic, Christy Renee Stehle makes it simple. She says: “Everything in the universe has mass. For a magnet to be magnetic, its electrons align and spin in the same direction. For a brand, it’s the same thing: your internal values and external actions have to line up.”
According to Christy, a magnetic brand has integrity. It’s when what you say you are on the inside matches what you do on the outside. That’s when your message has real power.
Trader Joe’s came up as a perfect example. “They take care of their employees, and that joy trickles down to their customers,” Christy said. “You can feel that alignment when you walk in the store.”
The Hidden Power of Storytelling
As a professional communicator, Christy believes storytelling is at the heart of every magnetic message. “A great storyteller keeps people on the edge of their seats,” she said. “The secret is to engage all the senses (what did you see, smell, feel, hear) and tell your story in the present tense so it feels alive.”
Great storytelling is also about vulnerability. Christy says leaders often shy away from sharing the messy parts, but people don’t want to hear about perfection. They want to hear relatable stories. We want to follow leaders who’ve been through something and come out stronger.
Reinventing Without Losing Your Core
For established brands, reinvention can be tricky but it’s essential. Christy broke it down into two scenarios: those struggling to stay afloat, and those doing well but feeling stagnant.
For thriving companies, she suggests leaning into storytelling. “Use your employee and customer stories,” she said. “There’s so much gold there that often gets overlooked.”
For brands that are struggling, self-awareness is key. “It starts with admitting that the market has changed,” she said. “Be open to evolution. Today’s buyers care less about product specs and more about purpose and values.”
Giving Back and Growing Forward
Christy’s passion for leadership development also fuels her volunteer work. As the moderator for the Future Leaders Forum at IMEX, she’s helping shape the next generation of professionals.
“Disruption has been the story of my life,” she said. “And in the next five years, 90 million jobs will disappear while 170 million new ones will be created. That means we need leaders who can adapt, communicate, and stay grounded in uncertainty.” For Christy, giving back is essential.
Focusing on Income-Producing Activities Over PR
Christy Renee Stehle shared an honest look at how easy it can be to fill your calendar with visibility opportunities (like podcasts and PR appearances) that feel productive but don’t always move the needle when it comes to revenue.
“As your brand grows, you start attracting opportunities,” she explained. “It’s exciting to be invited on shows and meet new people, but when I looked at my schedule, I realized I was spending too much time doing fun, awareness-building things and not enough time on the uncomfortable but necessary income-generating activities.”
For Christy, that meant taking a step back to focus less on “going further” and more on “going deeper.” Instead of constantly chasing new PR opportunities, she decided to nurture the relationships she already had and lean into the less glamorous work – like outreach, follow-up, and asking for referrals.
Christy’s strategy now involves intentionally blocking time to reach out and connect with potential partners, leads, and collaborators instead of waiting for inspiration to strike. A recent business retreat reminded her of two guiding principles: Don’t recreate problems you’ve already solved, and be your own best student.
That mindset shift helped her get clear on her focus. She started putting her energy into speaking opportunities rather than juggling coaching and consulting at the same time. “Speaking is where I feel most alive and in flow,” she shared. “It’s my purpose. And staying focused on that mission has helped me confidently ask for connections and show up for the work that truly moves my business forward.”