From Walk-On to the Big Screen: How Candler Cook's Book Changed His Career and Started a Movie

Rachel A. Williamson on Turning 30 Years of Store Operations Experience into a Bestselling Book

Rachel Williamson spent 30 years leading retail operations at some of the biggest brands in the industry — from Bath & Body Works to Ann Taylor — before launching her consulting firm and writing Running Great Stores, a 30-day implementation guide for store managers and district managers. In this episode, Rachel talks with Eric Jorgenson about how she finally committed to the book, the creative process that got it done in two focused months, and the hands-on marketing playbook she built from scratch — custom shipping envelopes, branded ribbon, Mini Cooper keychains, and personalized book signings — that turned a first-time author into an Amazon #1 bestseller and opened doors to new clients, speaking engagements, and a chance encounter with a Fortune 500 CEO.

From Walk-On to the Big Screen: How Candler Cook's Book Changed His Career and Started a Movie

What happens when a book you wrote to inspire strangers ends up transforming your own life? In this episode, Eric sits down with Candler Cook, author of From Underdog to Bulldog, to talk about the unexpected and remarkable doors his book has opened since he published it seven years ago. Candler shares how a fraternity alumni email connected him with his now-CEO, how his personal story attracted a film production company, and why reaching the right 1,000 people matters more than chasing a bestseller list. He also opens up about working with Scribe, what it felt like to get a 6-out-of-10 first draft across the finish line, and what he'd tell anyone sitting on a book idea right now.

MyLinh Shattan on How West Point Shaped Two Generations

MyLinh Shattan grew up between two cultures, an Irish American father and a Vietnamese mother, both storytellers. She went to West Point as one of the first women to graduate, then spent decades writing, teaching, and serving. When her oldest daughter decided West Point was the only place for her, MyLinh couldn't sleep. That fear became the engine for her memoir, Raising Athena, published by Scribe Media with an audiobook releasing July 7th, the 50th anniversary of women at West Point and the 250th anniversary of the United States. In this conversation, MyLinh and Eric discuss the decade-long writing process, the workshop model that sharpened her craft, what it means to be a mother in a family where all five children serve, and why she believes the widening civil-military gap is one of America's most urgent blind spots.

Gui Costin: Two Books, Two Dakotaisms, and the Greatest Authentic Hack of All Time

Gui Costin, founder and CEO of Dakota, joins Eric Jorgenson to talk about writing two books with Scribe—The Dakota Way and Be Kind—and why he now calls authoring “the single best thing I’ve ever done for the business and for people.” Gui walks through the procrastination and self-doubt that nearly stalled his first Scribe book, the “world-class ghostwriter” who got him through it, and the Dakotaisms (“turn your brain off,” “throw your hat over the wall”) that finally pushed the book over the line. He explains how Dakota uses signed copies at every live event, why a book makes you a subject matter expert and an authority rather than a salesperson, and how showing up on LinkedIn pays off in unexpected ways, including a 20-years-no-contact college teammate who somehow knew his Starbucks order. The episode closes with Gui’s blunt advice to any CEO on the fence: figure out what you’re passionate about, call Scribe, and turn your brain off.

Deneen Allen: How a Reluctant Author Turned 25 Years of Tourism Expertise Into a Book

On this episode of Author Hour, Eric Jorgenson sits down with Deneen Allen, founder of FireCircle and creator of the 5x5 Method, to talk about her new book The FireCircle 5x5 Method. Deneen spent 25 years building tourism and hospitality businesses across Canada before distilling that expertise into a digital program, and resisting her team's push to put it in book form for three years. In this conversation, she shares why she finally said yes, how the book now functions as both a marketing tool and a companion guidebook to her digital program, the "secret code" funnel she built to convert readers into FireCircle members, and why she now wishes she'd written it sooner. A candid, useful conversation for any operator weighing whether their expertise belongs in a book.