Interview with Storyteller Susan Murphy: Monday Muse #3

From her blog to her tweets, there is a down-to-earth quality that attracts me to Susan Murphy. I discovered her about two years ago and haven’t looked back. Her motto of creating, sharing, learning, and being brilliant — is amazing.

Maybe it’s the storyteller in her, an aspect she elaborates further down this Monday Muse interview.

As an instructor of a social media certificate, how do you define social media; and how has that definition changed since you first entered the scene?

I am an old timer when it comes to social media.

I got into the scene after attending Podcamp Toronto in 2007, where I met a few guys who, at the time, were relative unknowns, but were on the leading edge of this great shift in how people communicate. You might recognize some of the names: Chris Brogan, Christopher Penn, and Julien Smith. Not trying to be a name dropper, of course , but these guys opened the door to an amazing new world for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for them. I’m incredibly grateful for their inspiration and support, especially in the beginning, when I was first trying to make sense of all this social media stuff.

I don’t know that the actual definition of “social media” has really changed over the years, but the media themselves certainly have begun to mature. Social media are kind of like rebellious teenagers now — shaking up traditional marketing — and forcing many companies to re-think the way they connect with people.

The social media bubble is still alive and well. As an instructor and coordinator of a social media program, I am finding that there are still so many people who are just trying to navigate these strange new waters.

People are not used to the fact that we are all publishers now. They are trying to wrap their heads around this ability they now have to share their unique perspectives and stories with the world, and what this means for how they communicate about themselves and their businesses. The term “social media” is still scary and unknown to lots of people, and to me, education is the primary way we can help people to overcome their fears.

As a teacher, TV producer, blogger, and other hats you wear, what do you like most about what you do?

I consider myself a storyteller. My original profession was as a TV producer, and it’s something I’ve been doing for a little over 20 years now – so I come by my storytelling bug honestly. We live in amazing times. The Web allows us to express ourselves in so many ways – through the written word, video, audio, or images (or any combination of these).

There has not been another time in history where we’ve had the opportunities to express ourselves freely that we do now. But self-expression is not something that comes naturally to a lot of people.

What I love to do most is help people to find their stories, and then find the best ways to tell those stories.

What is your daily routine?

I fell into this bad habit last year of waking up in the morning and heading straight to the computer to start working. I thought that hitting the ground running every day would give me an advantage. Instead, it was actually stressing me out. So I’ve been working on changing my daily routine, so that my days start out more peacefully.

I wake up around 5:30 a.m. I love the quiet of early mornings, before anyone else in the house is awake. I spend about 15 minutes in silence; either meditation or just simply sitting still. I usually will do some yoga or exercise next (getting the brain and body moving first thing in the day is essential for productivity!). Then I make breakfast and crack open the Kindle app on my iPad and read for about 15 minutes. Then I will flip over to check in on Twitter and Facebook and blogs for another 15 minutes or so.

Then, I always shower and get dressed. I work from home most days when I’m not teaching, so the temptation to stay in pajamas all day long is great. If I ‘get ready for work’, even if ‘work’ is in my home office, I feel more prepared to take on the day.

I use Leo Babauta’s method for organizing my tasks during the day. I always have my 3 MIT’s (Most Important Things) and those get done before anything else, even email. I batch certain tasks like phone calls and email, which get processed once my MITs are done. I keep a running list of upcoming stuff too, so that I have my expectations set and don’t forget things. I turn all notifications and ringers off on my phone and computer, so I am not tempted to be distracted by these things. Some days are meeting days – I try to group meetings together as much as possible as to not break up my dedicated work time too much.

Evenings and weekends (if I’m not teaching), are usually dedicated to spending time with family and friends, or working on personal projects and charity work.

Who influenced you the most growing up, and who is your internet influence today?

My parents are my biggest influence. They set the example for me and my brother for just about everything. They showed us that hard work is the secret to success, but that family comes first before anything else. They demonstrated that giving generously of your time and money to things you believe in, without expecting anything in return, is a secret to happiness. They believed in my brother and I and supported our choices (and have always been there to help pick up the pieces when we made bad choices too). They demonstrate every day how to have a happy marriage; they celebrated 50 happy and loving years last September. So, yep… Mom and Dad have been a primary influence on who I turned out to be, for sure.

As far as internet influences, I’m still heavily influenced by Chris, Christopher, and Julien I mentioned earlier. I’ve learned an awful lot from them over the past 5 years or so. It’s amazing how much information and advice they provide to all of us through their blogs and social presences, for free! They are incredibly generous people online and “in real life” and I’m glad to know them.

I would also have to say that professionally, I’m heavily influenced by Mitch Joel [and Monday Muse #1], not only for his dedication to publishing fresh new content every day, but also for his ideas. Every post he writes gets me thinking and pondering. Personally, my friend Jon Swanson has been a tremendous support to me. He is very wise and has helped me through many of those times when I am feeling less than confident or unsure.

What do you know now that you didn’t know at 18?

My first inclination is to say EVERYTHING, but I suppose I should give myself more credit than that. I was lucky to know from the young age of 10 exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up – be a TV producer. So I didn’t waste any time after I graduated from high school at 17; I jumped right into the TV Broadcasting program at Loyalist College that same fall.

To say I was young and naive at that time was an understatement; I was the youngest person in my class. But I was devoted to learning and working hard (something my parents taught me). My hard work paid off and I managed to land my first producing job upon graduation at the age of 19, working for the local community access channel. What I lacked in life experience I made up for in enthusiasm and boundless energy.

My first few months on the job, I was given some wise advice from my boss, Andre, who, to this day, remains a close friend and mentor to me. I was stressing out because I was working on a really challenging show and nothing was going right. I kept going to him and complaining that this was wrong and that was wrong. I was looking to him to solve the problems for me. In his calm and gentle way, he told me that even when faced with big problems, I needed to always focus on finding the solution, no matter what.

Nobody wants to hear your problems, and your problems are just that: yours. Complaining to people about them doesn’t do any good. Always work to find ways to solve your own problems, instead of pushing them back on other people. If you need help, ask. But always come to the table with some potential solutions. That’s advice that I’ve carried with me since, and it’s served me well.