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Living Your Legacy

Best-Selling Author: Turning Your Book Into a Legacy

16 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What unique stories can individuals share to build their legacy?

0.031 - 10.141 Pete Grimes

Most people have this amazing story inside them, right? And they can share through their story lessons, motivation, inspiration, wisdom that can help other people, right?

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10.321 - 21.072 Rudy Mawer

So funny you say that because when I saw you were starting Legacy Makers and I said, I got to get on the show because we're totally aligned. It's like helping people share how they were successful, which is going to help other people be successful too.

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21.272 - 37.166 Pete Grimes

Pete Grimes is a bestselling author, global marketing strategist, and storytelling expert with over 30 years of experience guiding Fortune 500 leaders. With over 30 years of experience working alongside Fortune 500 executives, Pete knows how to craft messages that inspire and make an impact.

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37.186 - 49.897 Rudy Mawer

I just want people to find their voice, share their story, because it's going to help so many people. And at the end of the day, if it helps just one person, would it be worth it? And most people I talk to said, even if I could help one person, it'd be worth it.

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49.917 - 52.619 Pete Grimes

Maybe they have a story or they want to write a book.

Chapter 2: How can storytelling inspire others and drive success?

52.88 - 56.543 Pete Grimes

You know, someone wants to build their own legacy. What tips do you have to get going?

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56.803 - 59.265 Rudy Mawer

That's a great question, you know, and I tell people that.

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61.658 - 86.62 Unknown

It spans the globe like a super high school internet. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win. The Living Your Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy. That's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational.

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86.64 - 86.94

Jordan. Jordan.

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88.574 - 95.682 Unknown

Chicago was the lead. Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.

101.045 - 122.472 Pete Grimes

Hello and welcome back to another podcast. We're here with Pete talking about how he helps a lot of executives, entrepreneurs take their story and everything they do and turn it into a book and then uses that as a core piece for all of their marketing to grow their business. Pete, welcome to the show. Thank you, Rudy. I really appreciate it. I'm excited. Yeah, it's going to be a fun, fun day.

122.492 - 136.452 Pete Grimes

You're here, you know, obviously you've got your main episode coming out and this podcast is maybe a setup for that. So if someone's watching and they, you know, they're interested in what you do and how you help, you know, create these books and marketing machines, do you mind giving a bit of an overview?

136.499 - 153.985 Rudy Mawer

Yeah. So I'd like to say that it's the easiest way to become an author, expand your impact and strengthen your legacy. So what I do is that there are a lot of people who have a great story and they have they suffer imposter syndrome or analysis paralysis, which is worse. And, you know, there's also that.

153.965 - 171.597 Rudy Mawer

A writer's block, which there are all these things that stand in the way from people sharing their story. And I believe that everyone has a story to share. Oh, yeah. And there's this golden information. You can take it with you. So why not leave a playbook for people to learn from your life? And, you know, and that helps them. It helps the leaders of the future. Right. Well, yeah.

Chapter 3: What barriers prevent people from writing their own books?

174.161 - 178.048 Pete Grimes

And you're doing really helping in a similar fashion from the book side. Right.

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178.028 - 188.907 Rudy Mawer

So funny you say that, because when I saw you were starting Legacy Makers, and I said, I got to get on the show, because we're totally aligned. It's like helping people share how they were successful, which is going to help other people be successful too.

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189.148 - 209.537 Pete Grimes

Yeah, and I think, you know, obviously I created the show with a similar passion to you. Most people have this amazing story inside them, right? And they can share through their story, lessons, motivation, inspiration, wisdom. that can help other people, right? And that's really what this show and all the episodes and different people from different walks of life is designed to do.

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210.338 - 211.679 Pete Grimes

Would you say the book's similar?

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211.879 - 232.522 Rudy Mawer

So yeah, absolutely. But I think there's another level, you know, I think people forget that by helping other people, they're really helping themselves, right? So there's Maslow's hierarchy of needs and you fulfill these certain needs, but then there's another level of self-realization where people to feel self-realized It's helping other people, finding more purpose, finding more meaning.

232.542 - 244.266 Rudy Mawer

And I tell a lot of the executives I talk to, at one point in your career, you have to start measuring your success by how many people of your tribe went on to become successful as well. And that's the most important metric.

244.28 - 253.097 Pete Grimes

Well, I think there's a famous saying, it's like, if you spend enough energy and effort helping enough people, you'll never have to worry about yourself, right? Because it will take care of it. Right.

253.398 - 255.682 Rudy Mawer

Yeah, that's right. That's true. There's that, there's that Zig Ziglar.

255.702 - 256.504 Pete Grimes

Yeah, I mean, it is.

Chapter 4: How can someone overcome analysis paralysis in writing?

317.547 - 337.843 Rudy Mawer

And so and the other one is just losing how much time is it going to take? So I figured out a way where they could speak their book into existence. Yeah. There's a way to really get off the sidelines and into it, make it fast. quick and painless, I joke around with people becomes very therapeutical. It's a lot healthier than drinking. And it's a lot cheaper than going to psychologist.

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337.883 - 348.604 Pete Grimes

Well, I've heard that about, you know, people that do write the book, it's like almost a journal or a diary, right? And they get to get it all out. And so how does that summarize the process if I wanted to?

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348.668 - 367.987 Rudy Mawer

So, you know, I think one thing I wanted to mention as well is that, you know, it's not just the book in this formula, right? The book is the beginning. Yeah. Because the book is just getting your idea. So we start out by, you know, it's what I call the three M's. It's like message, mission, and mindset. Everything begins with a mindset, right?

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368.067 - 377.357 Rudy Mawer

You have to have a healthy garden and grow healthy things. Otherwise, the weeds get in there, you know, that lizard brain gets in your way, right? And that's what happens to a lot of these writers.

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377.557 - 377.697 Pete Grimes

Mm-hmm.

377.677 - 400.326 Rudy Mawer

lizard brain gets in the way no don't do that that's dangerous stay in your comfort zone yeah and really growth comes from being outside of your comfort zone that's evolution you know pushing yeah totally human beings are always pushing it a little further that's how we exist today and we're not in the stone age right totally we're the slowest animal the weakest animal but for some reason yeah we got ahead and that's why yeah and

400.306 - 410.34 Pete Grimes

So talk me, you know, the book, obviously there's a lot that comes after the book, but say someone's listening and they're like, Pete, you finally inspired me to get this done. How do they get started?

410.36 - 429.908 Rudy Mawer

Okay, it's really simply, you have to clarify your message first. And then that message becomes your purpose, your why, as Simon Sinek says. Once you know your why, that's going to help you stay motivated, which is really key. Next is then having a smoking hot outline. I like to say that outline then becomes your script. And so what we do is we...

429.888 - 454.189 Rudy Mawer

Create bullet points, which include resources, information, reports, articles, so you're not talking just to talk. You have actually resources and facts behind it. Then your stories, your personal stories that it relates to. Create a bunch of bullet points, sound bites, and you have that outline that's ready to go. And then you spend a weekend talking your book into existence.

Chapter 5: What is the streamlined process for turning a narrative into a book?

494.707 - 494.927 Rudy Mawer

Right.

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494.947 - 495.147 Unknown

Yeah.

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495.648 - 510.787 Rudy Mawer

You know, open up the genie's bottle. Yeah. And so that's really the key. And I think that it's really important to differentiate between having a ghostwriter do it, who's you're going to have the same interview, but then they're going to walk away and come back with the story, their interpretation of the story.

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511.127 - 526.211 Rudy Mawer

But when you're really telling your story, it's in your own voice, literally and figuratively, right? And so that's important. And it is your seal of approval. And I think that One thing we, you know, the other elephant in the room is AI. People are writing books and like, I'm just going to add AI to it.

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526.632 - 540.701 Rudy Mawer

But I mean, people who are doing this, again, this self-realization, these are successful people. They don't want, they want it to be their own book. They want it to be their own masterpiece, right? And to do it, you know, strictly through AI, then that's not them.

540.761 - 540.861

Yeah.

540.925 - 561.045 Pete Grimes

Yeah. And I, you know, we play, we use AI a lot in our business and we actually tested it with books. And to me, it's never the same, right? It's kind of like the book, it maybe works for an email or a blog post or a social post, but for a book, it's like, it's like a hand, you know, the right book is like a painting, a custom painting on your wall.

561.425 - 576.961 Pete Grimes

Whereas an AI is like a photo print, you know, stock image print, right? So... And a book, something, yeah, that you want to be proud of, I think, and you want it to really be the authentic you. And that's why I don't think AI is a place to do that yet.

577.081 - 595.543 Rudy Mawer

Right. One thing I do use it for, though, and we have different tricks because I want to speed up the process for my customers. And one of the things we do is a book really should be a step by step for people behind you. You know, what is the lesson? They want to start from point A, get to point B. And how do you do that? So you could, you know, kind of brainstorm with AI, which is good.

Chapter 6: How can a published book enhance personal and professional marketing?

660.759 - 667.373 Pete Grimes

Like, say I've got my Google Doc of my book. Like, is it really that scary to then publish it and sell it?

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667.353 - 688.808 Rudy Mawer

That's a great question. And I tell people that even if you don't ever publish it, it's still worthwhile, right? It's a legacy for your family, your kids, your grandchildren. How did you do what you did? How did you get to where you are? And there's a lot of things... And you don't have to be, you know, create the cure for cancer.

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689.089 - 706.806 Rudy Mawer

Some people feel like they don't have a story because they're not in the headlines of their local newspaper. There are so many valuable lessons. People I like to call everyday superheroes that are doing amazing things, you know, like Our parents, our coaches, our teachers, our bosses and managers.

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706.826 - 711.652 Pete Grimes

Yeah, and they all have lessons and wisdom and experience, which is invaluable.

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711.952 - 728.092 Rudy Mawer

Right. So to answer your question more directly then, you have your book, and from there, and you're a whiz at this, you could repurpose all this content. So you have this content, and we do it in such a way where some of them are interviews while you're going through your book. So you have... you know, these videos. Yeah, yeah, great.

728.112 - 751.863 Rudy Mawer

And you could take extracts from your book and parse it out and turn that into a marketing machine, a content marketing machine. It's really important too because, you know, one thing they know as Forbes and all the major magazines and business journals, are reinforcing the idea of authenticity. You can't sell just to sell to someone. You have to be authentic.

752.103 - 773.262 Rudy Mawer

When you write a book in your own voice and you have all this material to work with, even if you never publish the book, the next speech you give, the next presentation you give, The next conversation you have with someone on your team is so spot on. Yeah. And you know your mission. You know your message. And you know your stories. And you have the resources and the sources to quote and cite.

773.643 - 778.09 Rudy Mawer

It makes it a lot easier even if you don't publish it and go to that. Love that.

778.07 - 794.88 Pete Grimes

Yeah, I know. This has been great, like just really learning the process and debunking, I think, a lot of the concerns and, you know, limiting beliefs people have around a book. And I love the fact that, you know, 80% of the world want to write a book and 80% can't.

Chapter 7: What are the essential elements of a compelling narrative?

855.409 - 876.825 Rudy Mawer

She was still taking care of us as kids. And that's one of those mama bear things where they lift up a burning car because the kid's inside and they find the strength. And she had that strength. And when she did pass away, which was 40 years to the day today, actually, on the day of this filming, my dad brought us together and he said, we're still fine, my brother and sister and I.

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876.805 - 895.32 Rudy Mawer

And that was his, my dad saying, like, keep it together. We're going to keep it together. And those are those everyday superheroes. And we have those people all around us. And this has been my mission, too, that, you know, there'll be struggles. You know, there's no playbook for life. The good news is, is we can write our story. Right. And that's what I want to do.

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895.3 - 916.801 Rudy Mawer

When I was in school and I would take the bus to cross town to go to class and I'd sit on the bus and watch people around me and, you know, little kid alone on a bus. Sometimes I wonder if my parents just wanted to knock me off and dump me. No, I'm just kidding. And no, but I would just look around and look up these faces of these people, make up stories and You know, it's kind of fun.

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917.322 - 936.502 Rudy Mawer

And I was in a creative writing class at the time. It turns out when I graduated, this is elementary school, I got a prize for the writing prize, you know, creative writing. And what I didn't know until maybe two years ago, that that had my name as a Peter Grimes Creative Writing Award. Every year in the school, they would give it out. I didn't even know until the other day.

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936.963 - 952.606 Rudy Mawer

So how I got to this journey was a little bit by accident, in fact, because I was in this international executive speaking circuit with C-level executives from Fortune 500 companies. And all of them were all wondering what's next.

952.626 - 971.258 Rudy Mawer

And there was a really impactful story where one of these executives bounded off the stage that got given a great keynote address, said, you are amazing, great job, you should do this full time. And far from, you know, I thought I was going to motivate them and they would be really enthusiastic and welcome this comment.

971.238 - 993.534 Rudy Mawer

I could see their shoulders shrug, and they dropped, and suddenly I could see this gentleman was depressed. I said, what's wrong? He said, you know, I'd really love to. I just don't know how. I don't even know where to start. So he sauntered off. I like to say he probably went to the bar in the sorrows, but it was really early in the morning still. But a couple minutes later, I had an epiphany.

993.554 - 1013.978 Rudy Mawer

I was thinking, wow. I mean, it was painful for both of us to go through this experience, but I realized I could help him. I'm a marketing executive. I've been doing it for years. Help him find his message and then help him expand his message and get reach for his message. I didn't ever find this particular person again, but I started finding other people who wanted to do this.

1013.999 - 1016.922 Pete Grimes

So that was the catalyst for all of this. Wow.

Chapter 8: How can individuals start writing their own stories effectively?

1039.356 - 1057.32 Rudy Mawer

You know, I think that there's so many stories out there. If there was ever a time we needed stories to bring people together, it's now. I mean, the whole world is super polarized, you know. And at the end of the day, we do want to care for our families. We do want to care for, you know, our brethren, right? And so a lot more of that brings us together than divides us, basically. Love it.

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1057.3 - 1070.545 Pete Grimes

And someone's watching. They're inspired by this. Maybe they have a story or they want to write a book, but they don't know where to start. Someone wants to build their own legacy. What tips do you have to get going?

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1071.447 - 1087.524 Rudy Mawer

So first and foremost, being clear that they have a story to share, right? That their story is valuable, you know, because that's the purpose. That's their why. And that's going to be the beginning. On my website, we'll share it later, I guess, is that I have some activities.

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1087.564 - 1102.647 Rudy Mawer

And one of them is just, you know, if you think about, you know, many of these leaders have had these conversations hundreds of times of people in their inner circle about coming to them for advice and then just giving them their insights. And they don't even have to leave their room. Like they could do it in the car on the drive to work.

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1102.627 - 1125.208 Rudy Mawer

these replay these conversations in their head where they talk to people who were came to them for advice and what do they tell them and how that felt to see that that person took that advice and did something with it and how that made them feel both of them and that's one of the exercises i talk about and so once you do that you realize not only do you have a message but you have an audience yeah now you're realizing that

1125.307 - 1130.055 Rudy Mawer

it landed well for this particular audience. And you're off to the races at that point.

1130.215 - 1137.787 Pete Grimes

I love that. So last couple of questions. What are some things they're going to learn from your episode or take away or be inspired from your episode?

1137.927 - 1154.273 Rudy Mawer

That's great. So, you know, legacy is about creating a ripple effect. You know, like you help one person who's going to help another person who's going to help another person. And that's really going to make the difference. You know, that makes it... I don't want to oversell it to say you're going to be immortalized, but really in a way you are.

1154.713 - 1177.267 Rudy Mawer

The same way my dad said we're still five, people can impact your life and you still carry that strength in them. And it's the same with your leadership teams or teams that you have. But it's the cool thing to think about it is this way is that if you're a leader, you have the choice of staying silent. and not helping your team. Many people don't do that. Letting someone else coach them.

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