Ep. 75: How to Overcome Shame by Sharing Stories with Nick Jaworski

This is it, storytellers - we're down to the second to last episode of season 5 of The Storytelling Lab! On this episode, Rain sits down with Nick Jaworski - a show host, teacher, and audio producer behind the production company "Podcast Monster." Rain talks with Nick about how shame influences so much of our lives, how we can use storytelling to overcome it, and his new show, Shame Rules!

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"If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment. If you put the same amount of shame in a Petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive.”

- Brené Brown

You wanna know what one of the most powerful ways to evoke empathy?

Sharing stories.

Nick Jaworski, the audio producer behind Podcast Monster, has helped New York Times bestselling authors, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts create powerful podcasts that have been downloaded millions of times.

“I know it sounds sappy, but I do feel honored to help people share their stories and skills with the world.”

If Nick is a sappy story sharer, then he’s my type of human.

That proved to be true once I had Nick on The Storytelling Lab.

For years, he's been creating great shows for other people, but now he has created his own show and I had to talk to him about it.

Shame Rules! is a “podcast about the way shame shapes everything.”

Since I’ve become neck-deep in the storytelling world, as well as my own journey through health and happiness, I can confirm that shame is a manipulative, insidious little monster, doing more damage than we know most of the time . . .

Until we talk about it.

And that’s just what Nick aims to do with his show.

"Shame plays an important role in how we raise and educate our children, which laws get written, how we treat marginalized people, how we view change itself, who has power - and who doesn’t, and that’s just to name a few…"

Each episode of Shame Rules! is like a mini documentary that uses stories to discuss how all of this shame actually works and will feature commentary from leading shame scholars, researchers, authors, and filmmakers.

Nick reminded me a lot of myself. -- a charming artist (except I hate that term) with a sense of humor, but has learned that leaning into vulnerability and discussing tough topics tends to open up more doors for himself and others.

These are topics that need to be discussed.

These are stories that need to be told.

And I’m glad he told me his.

If you want to dive deeper in the roots of shame and how you can combat it through sharing stories, this is the episode for you!

Some of the highlights of our conversation:

Music education background
Being influenced by “American Life”
How music intersects with your life and story
Developing “Podcast Monster”
His show “Where There’s Smoke”
Discovering your identity
How shame has impacted society
How storytelling can help you overcome shame
The steps to managing your shame
Finding shame in everyday life
The struggles living with shame
The correlations between shame and modern societal standards
Using your voice to heal and grow
Developing his podcast “Shame Rules”
How the pandemic has forced us to confront our shame