We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Max Sheffield. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Max below.

Max, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s go back in time a bit – can you share a story of a time when you learned an important lesson during your education?

My business has quite a non-linear journey. I started a different business in 2017 and pivoted to content marketing in 2018. I was a nurse for almost a decade, and I took a hiatus from my business in late 2019 after becoming pregnant. I went back to being a nurse but started on finishing my degree, this time in marketing. While I enjoyed writing and learned a lot about what makes content and marketing, in general, engaging on my own, but going back to school helped instill in me a sense of how much I *didn’t* know. It gave me a grasp of the fundamentals but most importantly I realized that I would never stop learning and growing as a professional. School humbled me and helped me better understand what I could uniquely bring to the industry after having a better understanding of how all of the different pieces interact.

Max, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Since I was a kid, stories have been my escape. I was the kid with a nose in a book hidden behind the textbook so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I understand what they’re capable of. I used writing and storytelling to heal from abuse, trauma, and mental illness. Storytelling isn’t some fancy buzzword for brands, it’s key to building connection and empathy with our customers and the wider community.

I worked as a nurse and trained other health professionals on how to use health technology and enjoyed breaking down complex technical subjects into analogies that made things engaging and easy to understand and apply. These two strengths were combined into my content marketing business, Max Wilde Stories.

Max Wilde Stories uses a signature framework called Story Alchemy that transmutes a business’s core values, purpose, and story into evocative copy and content that attracts ideal clients and nurtures them into brand advocates. I prioritize empathy and psychology in what makes content worthy of a Netflix-style binge that makes people understand what makes service-based businesses unique.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I’m continually unlearning from school and my childhood is tying my worth to external validation. I’ve often struggled with depression and perfectionism. If I couldn’t do something perfectly, it wasn’t worth doing or I’d give up quickly. This made it hard to grow because as a business owner, this requires you to go outside of your comfort zone and try new things when you don’t know what the outcome will be.

Business has its ups and downs due to external factors that we don’t control. This is expected. What works before may not work anymore. Using what is going on in my business as a barometer for how I’m feeling has been something I’ve struggled with. This has led me to get burned out in the past or become stuck. Unlearning came from therapy, breathwork, and working with mentors who helped me to think bigger about what I want the future of Max Wilde Stories to be. To get to where I want to be, I need to change what I’m doing.

Marketing especially requires consistency but also learning from the past to refine and improve on the campaigns, strategies, and tactics we’re using in the present and future. But we need to do the thing to have that data or information to make better decisions.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

People find me primarily through relationship building and being active in my local community. Since 2018 I have been intentional about not just attending local events geared toward founders, but also spending time volunteering or being on boards and offering my expertise. Groups such as KC SourceLink, InnovateHER KC, and the Freelance Exchange of KC. When I first came back to my business in 2022 after my hiatus, I set the ambitious goal of having 50 coffee chats in the year. I got to 36 through the year, but it made me consider how I spend my time connecting with people and looking for opportunities to collaborate. This has helped me to find clients, paid speaking opportunities, and ways to build my online audience. But what I’m most proud of in this regard is knowing my community well enough to connect people who would be mutually beneficial. I believe in the concept of business karma: the more I give to my ideal customers and colleagues, the more opportunities and growth will come back to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maxwildestories.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxwildestories
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaxWildeStories
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-sheffield-baird/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@maxwildestories