“I play the didgeridoo.”

I was at an event last night and had a great conversation with the program manager of a startup accelerator. But it almost didn’t happen. Someone I’d met earlier told me to seek her out and chat, but the night was crazy and I never found her.

Crowd thinning, the night was winding down and conversations were running their course when someone asked one of those pleasantry sort of questions — “So, do you play an intrument?”

“I play the didgeridoo,” I replied. “Not well.”

This caught the attention of the program manager as she was walking past, and she immediately turned toward us and said, “sounds like I walked by at JUST the right time!” (I didn’t even know she was the person I was told to introduce myself to yet)

But I got to share the story of how, ten years ago, I ACCIDENTALLY won a $1,000 concert-quality Australian didgeridoo online and felt so obligated to learn how to play it; I have been working on self-teaching ever since.

It’s one of my favorite stories to tell.

It has nothing to do with … well, basically anything that would be pertinent to a startup accelerator or startup founder.

But it demonstrates something fundamental about me and who I am. I will stumble into something and get so focused on making the most of it, that I’ll go to stupid lengths to succeed.

And that’s the sort of character that you can only share by telling a story. If I’d just said “I’m highly committed to my clients’ success and go to great lengths for them,” it would have given corporate and fallen flat.

Nobody wants to talk to another consultant that works really hard. But many want to hear about the didgeridoo player who accidentally won an online raffle.

So many companies make the same mistake. They deliver bland brand language about “culture” — missing opportunities to weave them into authentic stories that captivate attention and create emotion.

Start with the story. The people who need to hear it will find you.