2018 has been quite a year - viral videos, TEDx talks, Washington Post articles, First time publishing and more!
At the beginning of this year Julian and I made a decision that changed the course of our year and probably our careers. We committed to learning a new skill so we could truly support our clients in getting their stories into the cultural dialogue because god knows we need some different voices sharing in our world right now. So we decided to study how to get on stages and learn how to get published. We focused our time and energy building relationships that could support our clients in reaching broader audiences with their stories. The results were amazing.
As part of a leadership program I did in the first half of the year, I declared that in the first six months of 2018 we would secure 10 media placements for our clients and the Million Person Project and that five of those placements need to be on major media platforms (Platforms over 10 million). We decided if we could do 10 in the first six months that we’d establish our roll and just keep going!! And we did!!
Why?: We work with some of the world's most amazing change makers. We coach them to give the most powerful talks of their lives and stand fully in their power. But a lot of times these talks are given in front of smaller audiences than we want. We realized we weren’t serving our clients to the best of our ability if we didn't know how to coach them into getting media and securing bigger stages.
Here are some of our 2018 results:
Viral video on Upworthy video with over 400,000 view on Z Griss, a gender non-conforming sex coach who is changing the conversation around consent and pleasure.
Personal Narrative in the Washington Post. Andrea J Lee published her first piece in a major publication. Andrea is an incredibly brave storyteller and change maker who shares about how to break the cycle of abuse from the perspective of someone who became an abuser. Her work and thought leadership is really cutting edge.
Aimee Allison's feature on Upworthy about the importance of people of color running for office came out in April 2018. Aimee is President of Democracy in Color, an organization that focuses on race, politics and the New American Majority and the founder of She the People a national network elevating the political voice and power of women of color.
TEDx Talks Across North America on cutting edge depression research, women in global justice, rebuilding after a stroke and creating a culture of belonging. More talks are coming!
We got a BOOK DEAL with Chronicle Books to write a book about the power of personal storytelling!! Our book is called How Your Story Sets You Free and comes out in Fall of 2019! (Our book is part of a series with the book featured below.)
I did my first cold calling of TV news stations for a Leadership's service project I was part of and I got a YES on my second call!!
Our clients published their stories in print for the first time. It is thrilling to watch their messages spread. They published in Thrive Global, Elephant Journal, Witch, Vice, and newspapers across the country. This list goes on and on, but I have screenshot a few for you to see them here.
Through our clients we found out about awesome new stages and have built relationships with new curators. Watch our amazing client, Christina Amini, share about the power of authentic relationships in her moving Creative Mornings talk at the SF MOMA.
There is so much more to share but I don’t want to go on and on like a bragging Grandmother. Basically we are kicking ass and so are our clients!! We couldn’t be more proud. Thank you for being a part of the journey and following along. And when it’s your time to get your story out to the world, we are here for YOU!
xoxo Heather and Julian