In 1953, the 17th of June, there was an upraise. In Berlin. The capital of Germany and its citizens revolted against the dictatorship and the communists, who were holding the city in its arms of steel. Many people died. Even more managed to escape into freedom. At that hot day in June, I decided to be born.

I grew up in Oslo – Norway, that small piece of land between Sweden and the Atlantic Ocean that looks like a ‘bacon strip’ on the map. 3 years old I managed to escape from Kindergarten. No other kids had seen the whole under the fence and I immediately recognised the opportunity. The police squad found me late at night. Of course there was widespread panic. “Where is he now?”

In 1956, the year I tried to escape the ‘civilisation’, the Berlin dictators started to fence in 3 Million people behind steel and betong. And I continued to live my life on the fringe. Always looking.

I like to say: “Follow people who are looking for the truth, but avoid all those who are claiming they have found it.”

After a happy childhood in one of Oslo’s post-war suburbs, I moved to Germany to study Business Administration – Betriebwirtschaftslehere – as they call it. Spending 5 years at the Campus, I graduated in 1978, worked some time in Mannheim and then started my career as a sales rep at IBM in Norway. Since then I’ve been a Salesman. Until I went broke, real broke, during the dot.com crash in year 2000.

In short: 1996 I founded my own IT Consultancy company. January 2000 I had 35 employees and a shop worth millions. So I sold it. And got paid in shares from the take over company. As you all know, the IT business crashed. Over night my shares were worthless, I lost my job, I lost my health and my income. And on the top of that, the taxman one day is knocking at my door with his well-trained bloodhound at his feet, saying: According to the record, you have earned a lot of money last year. Give us 50% of it. Pay within 14 days.

The only thing a taxman and his dogs cannot take away from you, are your stories. So I decided to become a storyteller. That’s what I’m doing for a living. Telling old Greece myth, Norse myth, folktales and business stories. Jokes, fables and Sufi stories from the Silk road. I don’t like technology. And I’m convinced that creating a storytelling culture in your organisation, you will be able to build a ship that goes just as fast on land as on sea.

I see a future where products and services are increasingly similar and it is hard for buyers to see any difference when it comes to features, functions and benefits. Therefore, it’s not what you sell, but how you sell, which will be important and we will see a shift towards more and better sales training. Training that goes beyond the techniques into the very essence of how we think about relationships and communication. The story will help you, whether you want to get better sales results, improve your influencing skills or even find a new partner in life!!

I hope you enjoy the story. Please email me at espen@elixirbook.com and tell me how it has benefited you.

Espen Holm
Story Teller