Marsha Shandur is a Networking Mentor – which is a fancy way of saying she helps grown-ups make friends. As the founder of YesYesMarsha.com, she shows entrepreneurs, creatives and coaches how to build meaningful business and industry connections that move their career forward faster – and that feel like real friendships…because they are.

She is also a Storytelling Coach. As the organiser, curator, host of, and story coach for True Stories Told Live, Toronto’s biggest storytelling show, she has coached over 100 storytellers, taking their personal stories from a confused mess to a compelling stage or video piece. She herself has told stories at everywhere from The Toronto Storytelling Festival to a live audience of 3,000 people at Portland’s World Domination Summit – where she is now the conference’s Official Story Coach.

Throughout her career as an event organiser, radio host, podcaster, author for Bloomsbury Publishing, music supervisor for hit TV shows, and the kind of person who does things like running solo marathons, she has featured on Forbes, The Muse, the BBC and The Guardian.

Transform the way you think about storytelling and networking – and see Marsha in a variety of wigs – at YesYesMarsha.com

Marsha’s episode

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Work miracles with Marsha

Transform the way you think about networking – and see Marsha in a variety of wigs – atYesYesMarsha.com and download her guide for how to remember anyone’s name (including dogs, cats and children).

Marsha has also recently started doing story coaching (and was the coach to the speaker’s at last week’s World Domination Summit!).

Email [email protected] for more information or go to yesyesmarsha.com/storycoaching/

(And here is that fab article about Marsha’s marathon!)

From the podcast: a few of Marsha’s favourite things

How Marsha starts her day: 10 minutes of meditation — it used to be five You don’t need to do 20 minutes.

Spirituality practice: Almost nobody knows this, but I say prayers every night. I was christened twice, have since fallen out of love with organised religion (because: homophobia and misogyny), but I kept up the praying. It turns out, I’ve had a gratitude practice since I was a kid, I just didn’t know that was what it was called.

Creativity practice: Biking. Lots changed when I moved to Toronto and one of them is that I cycle everywhere here. I find that my best ideas come to me when I’m biking.

Relationships practice: Physical contact. It’s like breathing for me.

Book: The Wisdom of a Broken Heart by Susan Piver

Marsha’s parting message:

Empathy makes your life much better. It’s not just for other people. Next time you’re annoyed with someone – your family or a person on the bus – remind yourself that everyone is just trying their hardest to be happy, just like you.

Leave a comment at elloaatkinson.com/marsha-shandur and share your favourite moment in the interview.