Switcheroo Series Ep. 3: The Biggest Lore Drop Yet, Doubling Kal's Income, and a Venmo Heist
This is exactly as chaotic as it sounds.
Every few episodes on Point of the Story, I’m handing the microphone to someone else.
Mostly because I spend a lot of time asking other people weird questions, and I figured it was only fair that someone got to return the favour.
This week, that someone was copywriter, theatre kid, and professional instigator Kalyl.
Over the course of our time together, I somehow admitted to:
accidentally Venmo-ing myself money from someone else’s phone,
getting a matching tattoo with a man I met in Arizona,
why I think inanimate objects have feelings,
and my deeply concerning emotional attachment to Lightning McQueen.
I think we understood the assignment.
The squirrel brain questions 🐿️
Have you ever kissed a girl and liked it? No.
Not because I was opposed to the idea, but mainly because the opportunity never really presented itself.
You’re on death row. What’s the crime and what’s your last meal?
Apparently...I stabbed someone.
To be clear: I have never stabbed anyone.
But according to my own imagination, if I ever ended up on death row, that’s probably how I’d get there.
My last meal would be every blueberry chai latte from every café I love.
Brownie batter and an entire tub of chocolate frosting.
Notice how there’s no actual food, just sugar and poor decision making.
If you weren’t a copywriter...
I’d be a painter and not just someone who paints, someone with a gallery.
People would pretend to understand my work and I’d pretend to help them figure it out, and I’d wear linen.
It would all be very serious work.
Apparently I’m an expert in... painting with chai lattes.
One of my favourite parts of the episode was when Kalyl made me play an improv game.
He introduced me as the world’s leading expert in painting with blueberry chai lattes.
So naturally...I explained my artistic process.
You remove the straw.
You splatter the chai.
You honour the coffee ring left by the cup.
You let the beverage lead you.
By the end of it I was trying to convince myself this was actually a viable business model.
I’ve had worse ideas.
The story that still gives me second-hand embarrassment.
Kalyl asked me what the most embarrassing moment of my life was.
The funny thing is...I don’t really get embarrassed.
Second-hand embarrassment, however, absolutely cripples me.
I shared a story from high school that still makes me physically recoil every time I think about it.
Not because of what happened to me, but because of what happened to somebody else.
I’m not going to spoil it here because I think hearing me tell it is about 400% funnier than reading it.
But just know...
I haven’t recovered.
And I don’t think I ever will.
My favourite business question.
Somewhere between the tattoo stories and Lightning McQueen lore...
Kalyl asked me something I actually adored.
He wanted to know what I’d do if I had his business.
So we ended up workshopping new offers, corporate workshops, digital products, pricing, positioning...
Basically an accidental live strategy session.
It reminded me how much I love seeing someone else’s business from the outside.
Sometimes you’re standing so close to your own work that you can’t see the obvious next step anymore.
Someone else usually can.
POINT OF THE STORY
Embarrassment is a choice, and I’m not choosing it, but secondhand embarrassment? That one gets me every time.
Love you, mean it. 🖤
KALYL LINKS
— Follow Kalyl on Instagram and Threads
— Check out his website
— Subscribe to his newsletter
BTL LINKS
— All of my website copy resources: betweenthelinescopy.com/web-copy
— All of my email marketing resources: betweenthelinescopy.com/email-marketing
— Take my website copywriting course: betweenthelinescopy.com/sprint
— Sponsor this podcast (or my newsletter!): betweenthelinescopy.com/sponsorships
— Follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/btlcopy
OR
— Subscribe to my marketing newsletter at www.betweenthelinescopy.com/subscribe
— Subscribe to my ADHD newsletter at bysarajoelle.substack.com
— Subscribe to my copywriter-only newsletter at btlcopy.myflodesk.com/open-loop
— Subscribe to my designer-only newsletter at btlcopy.myflodesk.com/for-designers
— Check out my website at www.betweenthelinescopy.com
OTHER LINKS
— Switcheroo Series Ep. 1: Doubling Your Revenue, Design vs. Copy, and the Cape Cod Instagram Lore (with Sarah Kleist)
— Switcheroo Series Ep. 2: Switcheroo Series Ep. 2: Audacity, People Pleasing, Confidence, Threads Icks, and That One Time I Threatened to Sue Walmart
— Adrienne’s newsletter, Sounds Like Brunch
— Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.