Anita Endsley is a singer, actor, producer, vocal coach, entertainment manager, musician and has recently added writer to her list of to-done’s. You heard me. Not to-do’s. DONE. She recently published a fiction series and an encyclopedic reference book for musical theatre students & teachers. If you want to go from a to-do to a to-done, check out my conversation with Anita.

Chris Haley is a writer, actor, filmmaker, advocate, and historian. He’s also a keeper of the legacy of his uncle, Alex Haley the author or Roots and The Autobiography of Malcom X.

Welcome to Season 2 of the StoryMaven Podcast — where we share insights to help you become a better storyteller and create a connection with your audience, all through the power of a great story. This is a story about being open to where your story takes you. Take a listen to how Chris’ journey winds from actor to poet to speaker to Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. Our conversation took place between Juneteenth 2021, right after its declaration as a Federal holiday, and the centennial celebration of Alex Haley’s birth.

This month’s guest on the StoryMaven podcast is Ashley Vann, President of Vann Strategies and Founder of the Victory Cup Initiative. Ashley is dedicated to promoting the work of nonprofit organizations in the Central Florida community. Her passion is for uniting donors with the causes they care about sparked her idea for the inaugural Victory Cup Initiative. She believes that when you hear someone else’s story it can change your perspective for the rest of your life. In this episode you’ll hear exactly what the Victory Cup is, how Ashely raises money for it and how much we gave away this year. Ashley & I talk about our behind-the-scenes experience of making sure that nonprofits get noticed by telling their stories.

Walt Disney Imagineering Veteran Theron Skees helps us discover the difference between art and design. As a creative worker, our conversation untangled those two wires for me. We talk about his experience creating worlds that consumers interact and how his story-based approach connects brand to consumer in lasting ways. So cool, right?!

Meet Rob Lott, the host of The Leading Creative Podcast. We talk about how leading a creative team requires you to understand what they want and need. Sound familiar? It’s exactly how we interact with our audience, and story helps us engage! Find out how creativity and story help us lead.

You’ve got a problem. You need to streamline your process for writing copy, social posts and press releases. But templates DON’T work! When you understand the magic of storytelling, you can start to capture it in your writing. That means your writing is better and your process is easier!

In this episode of the StoryMaven podcast, we talk about magic. The magic in creativity, in capturing ideas and when to let them go. We explore the mystery of a good story and how we can create an environment for being a recipient of the magic. Awareness of the magic will help make your writing process more enjoyable and a little bit easier. We don’t through out templates, but we do create a better process. That sets us up for creating a template that captures magic and streamlines the process.

The Gloria Sirens banded together to create an online space for their writing. In the process they discovered the accountability helped them grow creatively and professionally. In this episode they share the inner workings of a writing group and offer ideas for how you can conquer the blinking cursor of death.

In this second part of my conversation with Executive Life Coach Elizabeth Dean, we talk about the neuroscience of creating a story and using it to create a positive mindset. In creating a story for yourself, you’re tapping into the hero’s journey. You’re visualizing obstacles and how to overcome them to get to your triumphant ending.

Moving on! That’s the theme of the moment. We want to get out of 2020 and move forward! We’re hoping that 2021 will just move us forward. That’s why it’s so important that you hear from Executive Life Coach Elizabeth Dean. She was my coach and helped me move forward into a new phase in my career and I KNOW that you need to hear from her at this moment. A Certified Professional Coach with Coaches Training Institute (CTI), and founder of Elizabeth Dean Coaching Elizabeth's story and her best insights for executives and job seekers will help you to see the path and take each step to get you to your goal.

Brands, like (Disney) Apple and Google…have power because they have cultures that people want to join — they create narratives that people want to become co-stars in their ‘movie’.  Understanding how your brand story creates a narrative that customers want to engage in is Louie Gravance’s speciality. In this episode Louie & I talk about your personal brand narrative and how it relates to being an employee, starting your own company and job searching and how your intention helps in understanding your customers and what they want from a brand.