Ep 34: "The Ungeneric Hero: Beards, Burnout & Business" with Louis Butterfield

Disruptive Influence with Jeff Abracen

This is a conversation about what it really takes to build a business, stand out in a sea of sameness, and recover when the hustle turns into burnout.

Louis Butterfield is the co-founder of Awesome Business Videos & Video Heroes, an agency, program & community helping founders create videos that actually get watched on LinkedIn. Known for his playful “videos in the park” format, Louis has carved out a reputation for making content that’s ungeneric, entertaining, and rooted in values. Alongside his wife Jenna Sipponen, he’s built a six-figure business and a fast-growing community - while also confronting the realities of burnout and balance.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Louis went from living in a yurt and failing five businesses to launching a thriving video company
• Why ungeneric videos beat polished but forgettable content every time
• The park video formula: mix silly settings with serious value
• How partnerships and podcasts became rocket fuel for authority
• The hidden cost of 70-hour weeks and the truth about burnout
• Why stories that sell are really about shared values, not just hooks
• The mantra Louis lives by: Punch above your weight class

Takeaways

• Stand out by changing the setting - not watering down the message
• Trust compounds when you borrow audiences through collaboration
• Community brings accountability and consistency
• Shared values build stronger bonds than formulas ever could
  

Chapters
00:00 – The role of story: why we’re drawn to people like us
00:25 – Welcome to the Disruptive Influence Podcast
00:40 – Meet Louis Butterfield: ungeneric videos for ungeneric brands
01:10 – From yurts to five failed businesses → stumbling into video
02:00 – Why high-end video no longer works & the shift to LinkedIn
03:45 – The rise of “videos in the park” (and why they work)
07:20 – Behind the scenes: outtakes, swings, and slides
09:15 – From client work to community → launching Video Heroes
13:20 – Building authority: showing wins & stacking trust through partnerships
17:30 – Podcasting as rocket fuel for growth
23:00 – The hard truth: burnout behind the six-figure launch
27:30 – Guardrails, recovery, and avoiding future burnout
31:30 – Purpose & fuel: love vs. fear, family, and the housing dream
36:40 – Finding Ikigai & designing the long game
39:20 – Crafting stories that sell: values over hooks
46:20 – Imposter syndrome, client pain points & the mantra: Punch above your weight class

Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]
If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.
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Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce
©2024 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen