The Cantina
Reveal and share your story
The Cantina is Open.
Your Story Is Served.
A drunk person in my hometown of Keighley, West Yorkshire, once described the place as ‘one giant Star Wars bar.’
The town was riddled with rich characters. Their many fantastic tales – packed with mucky wisdom and new ways of seeing – taught me that every human has a valuable story. When we’re given the chance to tell it, clarity follows. Most people would walk straight past the eccentrics, eager to escape the smell of booze on their breath or the colourful language they favoured, but I always stopped to listen. I understood that people need to be heard, and my appetite for their life lessons – the kind school could never teach – only grew.
Each tale told in that town became a part of its fabric and helped me form my own identity. It influenced my decision to pursue a career in the creative industries. The town's contradictions characterised great creativity, so I set off on a storyteller’s path, weaving narratives professionally through illustration, writing, coaching, and podcasting. In hindsight, helping big thinkers tell their story was inevitable, so I built The Cantina.
The Cantina is The Creative Condition’s storytelling space, where we can work together to reveal and shape yours.
In this age of automation, where sameness is reaching pandemic proportions and too many creators are stuck in a reactive state, stepping into your story is vital. There are two ways I can help you to do that. They’re detailed below.
Two Ways
to Step Into
Your Story.
The Cantina serves two types of story coaching experiences:
The External is for those who wish to share their experiences, opinions and knowledge through a must-read book, impactful talk or rich content to inform and inspire. We’ll embark on the self-discovery odyssey detailed below in the process section, before shaping the narrative into a tangible form ready to enter new galaxies far and wide.
The Internal is for those looking to benefit from a private self-discovery voyage to help them lead creative lives with ultra-clarity. This is not about publishing or sharing, but carefully crafting the right personal or brand narrative and stepping into it.
THE Framework
Sometimes life delights; other times it tests and takes away. Story is the cocktail made from your unique blend of trials and triumphs, topped with a little absurdity umbrella.
Very few people get the opportunity to tell their whole story. It’s a profoundly impactful experience.
Using my decades of interviewing and storytelling expertise, I’ll listen deeply, question, consider and suggest, identifying your core values and your why, negotiating a thoroughly informed narrative until your most empowering story emerges.
You’ll become the author of the life you want to live.
The Process
Share
In a 2-3 hour deep-dive Cantina conversation, we’ll talk as openly as you’re comfortable with, revealing your story, or the story of your brand, outlining your purpose and lived experience.
Sketch
With my help, using the results of the share stage, you’ll draft the story on paper or screen, expressing yourself freely.
Shape
We’ll shape the material together, assessing and testing what we have, playing with possible shapes, identifying gaps and distilling down to an empowering narrative.
State
As the story comes together, stating your position with newfound clarity and confidence becomes the natural way.
Show
If your goal is to share, now is the time, because your story is ready to inspire and inform. If you choose The Internal, you’ll show through actions as you set off on your new path.
Star
Now you’re the star of your show. Whether you’re a brutish antagonist, unpredictable eccentric, or traversing the galaxy sharing wisdom and fighting for good, you’re ready to lead by example, shining how only you can. Leave the vacuous LinkedIn guff to the droids.
Stories and me
I’m the author of eight books. Non-fiction, down-and-dirty fiction and Héctor Ayuso’s biography. I’ve interviewed hundreds of storytellers and creative thought leaders across art, design, sport, science, psychology, technology, music, film, and more through The Creative Condition podcast, honing a unique interviewing style.
Your storytelling experience will be deeply personal, memorable, creative, and unique.
I live for stories, whether I’m writing, guiding, hearing, or telling them. This brain is different. It keeps me awake at night but has also created tales about feeder octogenarians, ghost discrimination and exotic pet hoarders. Stories help me stay sane in this world and provide a beautiful vehicle to attempt to make some sense of it.
I’d love to help you tell yours. Say hello at ben@bentallon.com or via the form below, and we can explore working together.
