#2 So, What’s All This?

What does a newsletter about storytelling really mean?

Well. It’s a long story. Let me start in the middle.

I’ve struggled over the past year to make the things I love, writing and marketing, make sense together. It took me some time to realize that the thing that tie these two seemingly disparate things together is storytelling. That may sound banal, but the truth is it’s not just saying you’re a storyteller, but the craft behind creating and sharing great stories. That’s what I do in many different forms. It’s also a skill I see benefiting others if they only had the tools. Hence this newsletter.

It’s a little bit story crafting, it’s a little bit marketing strategy. It’s a lot a bit about the power of your story and knowing how to share it in impactful ways.

My career has not been a straight path. Check out my bio to see what I mean (or you can creep my LinkedIn). But it makes sense. And in every job interview where I’ve made the leap from one industry to the next learning more, gaining new skills and being exposed to new ways of storytelling, I’ve been able to look the interviewer in the eye and tell a compelling tale of my experience that makes it easy for them to hire me. All while being black and a woman, which means underestimated and overlooked. I’ve also helped other people do that same thing with career paths that were a little less intentional than mine (because, it may not look it, but I did it this way on purpose…so far).

I want to give others that ability to tell their stories with clarity and in ways that will engage their audiences, whether those audiences are job interviewers, potential customers for their small business, or readers.

I’m also in the final stages of editing a novel that has taken me three years to write and am about to try to get an agent to help me get a publisher so I can share that story with the world.

So that means that as a reader of this weekly missive you’ll get:

• Tips and frameworks to tell your story with impact

• Novel writing updates including my attempts to get the (very white) publishing industry to take an interest in my book about a black artist’s attempt to find her place in the world after her brother’s suicide

• Resources and recommendations on great stories I’ve come across (a lot of them will probably be stories of black people, because I think the world needs more of that and whatever else comes to me that is an example of a story well told)

• Anything else I think you might find useful. Please feel free to send me questions or topics you want to hear more about

• Brands and branding, because that is a type of storytelling I love and have become expert at and think when done well can change the world for the better because consumers have ALL THE POWER and don’t know it (I’ll tell you about that one day for sure)

• Short stories from time to time that I’ve written that I think you’ll enjoy

What you probably won’t get:

• News. Yes, I was a journalist and still write long form pieces that I’ll definitely share with you, but honestly there are enough places you can go to get news, you don’t need that from me

• Long drawn out posts, because that’s lazy (I’ll tell you about that another time)

But, on that note, I’ll see you next week. Be sure to share if you know someone who you think would benefit from tools to help bring their stories to life with impact.

And, if you haven’t already watched Disclosure, you must. It is a perspective-shifting lens into the trans experience in America and is essential viewing at this time in history. Also, a story beautifully told.