I had never heard of Bill Allen until he enrolled in one of my Master Story Coaching packages last summer. 

This was unusual, because most of my higher level clients come from referrals, have met me at a presentation, or begin with my Story Launch package to define and frame their story, see how working with me will lead to success, and basically check me out.

But Bill had done none of these things. 

He’d also been a bit vague with his answers to the preliminary survey new clients are asked to complete. 

It was only by checking out his websites that I learned he was the head of an 8-figure company that had led people to great success flipping houses on a large scale. He also had several highly successful mastermind groups showing entrepreneurs from all arenas how to scale their businesses. 

So I was eager to see what he had in mind when we finally met for our first Zoom session last September.

I began our call as I almost always do, asking what would make our coaching a success for him.

“I’m not really calling for your help,” he replied. 

This was also unusual. Unheard of, actually, especially when he’d already invested thousands of dollars to work with me.

“I really made this appointment just to get to meet you, and to say thank you,” he explained. “You’ve helped me make millions of dollars, and I firmly believe that people who contribute to someone’s success should be rewarded.”

I was enjoying this call already.

He went on to say that he was a member of Russell Brunson’s Inner Circle mastermind group. And for some time Bill had been doing a deep dive into Joseph Campbell’s writing, and anything else he could find about The Hero’s Journey.

That's how he encountered my ideas about the hero’s Inner Journey.

“That was life-changing for me,” he declared. “Not in terms of storytelling, but because of what you said about identity. 

“I realized,” he continued, “that with my own team, and then with all my clients and mastermind participants, if we could figure out what identity issues were standing in their way, and show them how to overcome those fears, they could scale their businesses and achieve the success they wanted a whole lot faster.

“And it worked!” he said. “So as a thank you, I signed up for your biggest coaching package.”

(You can hear Bill explain this in his own words in the brief video at the top of this article.)

What Bill revealed was immensely gratifying. He had taken my Inner Journey ideas and used them in ways I hadn’t really thought of, and by doing so achieved great success. 

This was similar to the way Russell had taken what he’d heard me say live, along with what I presented in The Hero’s 2 Journeys videos, and then incorporated those ideas into his Perfect Webinar model. And they later became one of the key elements of ClickFunnels.

As soon as Bill told me that he had signed up for my master coaching package just as a show of gratitude, I jokingly replied, “Well thanks! It’s been a pleasure meeting you.” 

Then I insisted that he let me give him the story coaching he had paid for, no matter how grateful he was. It’s what I love doing, and I was now eager to work with him to learn exactly how he had put the concepts of identity and essence to use.

“Wait, that’s not quite all,” he said. “You see, right now I’m in Orlando at Russell’s Story Hacking Live event. And tomorrow I’m making a presentation to five thousand people, all about how I’ve used your principles of the Inner Journey to scale my own businesses, and my clients’.

“So I thought I should get your permission to tell them about you and your process. And if you say NO, I’m kind of screwed.”

“Of course you can,” I told him. “Just two conditions. Give me credit for what you learned from me. And let me see the video of your presentation.”   

He agreed. And he then added, “You know, in January I’ll be giving a live presentation to one of my own mastermind groups in Nashville. I’d love to bring you out so you can tell them about your approach in person, rather than having them hear it from me second hand.”

I told him I’d love to, but that month didn’t work for me. 

(This was a lie. But more about that later.)

I promised I’d be happy to come speak to his group sometime in the future, and we agreed we’d begin his own story coaching after he was able to send me the video of his speech.

So a few weeks later, I saw for myself exactly what he told that huge audience about me. 

He was brilliant. 

And that’s when I felt horrible.

          - Michael

P.S. As I’m writing this, it’s been just a few days since I saw MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE. 

Perhaps as a result, these articles are designed the same way as the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE series – five complete episodes, then one that’s so long it has to be split in two.

You’ll see the conclusion of this riveting story very soon. (Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait until June 28, 2024, like you will for Part Two of MI 7.)

So in just a few days, you’ll receive the final article in the series: The Inner Journey #6: The Elixir Part Two.

See you then!