HELLO FRIENDS!

As a storyteller, I have always liked a good story. In fact, one of my favourite songs is Brandi Carlile’s “The Story” (written by her bandmate Phil Hanseroth.) The lyrics “All of these lines across my face, tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I’ve been. And how I got to where I am.” REALLY resonates with me.

Storytelling is a powerful tool in my life. I use it a lot when I teach, or I am facilitating, or when I am coaching. I have always found being open and sharing something (related to the topic you are discussing) that is based in reality can enforce the lesson or learning or conversation. (You just have to be careful not to make it ALL about you, that is not the point of using storytelling.)

In previous years, my storytelling has been all “work” related. I really held my personal life close to my chest. But then I got cancer and everything changed.

I learned that sharing, when appropriate and if you are comfortable, your personal journey can help others. It can also help the person telling the story.

When I first got cancer, I told very few people. It got leaked at work to more people than I would have liked and when people would talk to me about it, I would say “I am fine.” I really wasn’t but I didn’t feel comfortable sharing. But what happened when I kept saying “I was fine” when I wasn’t was that I felt very alone and misunderstood. I was frustrated people expected me to be back to normal when I knew I never would be. But how would people know how I was feeling if I wasn’t telling them?

When my cancer came back I had almost 5 years of therapy under my belt. I had the strategies to use and I knew the power of sharing my story. When you have cancer, you have no control, so being able to focus on something I COULD control, like telling my story, was a powerful thing. I should note here, you can be selective with who you want to share with and how much you want to share. Although I use my platform to share my cancer story to help others there are definitely things, I keep to myself. There is no right or wrong on how you do it, just what feels comfortable for you.

My tattoos are another way I tell my story.

I am chuckling to myself as I typed that as I don’t have a ton of tattoos so I can’t help but hear Chazz (Will Ferrell) from the movie “Blades of Glory” saying to Jimmy (Jon Heder) “Checking out my ink? Some people refer to me as the illustrated man!” If you want to see the clip, click below. It is a hilarious movie but warning it has adult content in it:

Blades of Glory: “Illustrated Man” scene

Even though it is a comedy, there is truth for me when Chazz says, “Each tattoo tells a tale; they are like a chapter in my life.” That’s how I feel about mine. I have a few I have gotten on my own that I have put a lot of thought and care into. I have a few given to me, not by choice, my radiation tattoos. No matter how I got them, they are each a chapter in my life, they bring me comfort and I will continue to get them to remind me of my story.

The other cool thing about storytelling, it is a GREAT tool to use for your career. Being able to distill and then tell your “career stories” is a big part of your career journey. In fact, it is one of the foundational pieces I strongly encourage during my coaching sessions and/or coaching workshops.

When people come to me to work on their career most of the time, they think it is all about the resume. In fact, the resume is a small part of the work we do together when working on your career journey. You cannot do your resume without understanding your career story. The foundational work is the key to true career success. You need to know your story to best inform your career.

If you are ready to work on your career stories and journey, I am excited to say my new online series “Your Career After…” has launched. You can take the courses individually or as a bundle. They are perfect any time of year but especially as we kick off a new year. It is time for reflection which is a tool to help you figure out your career foundation. This includes building your personal brand and telling your career stories:

RESERVE YOUR SPOT for Your Career After…

As this year comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to let you know how much it means to me that you listen to and share my story. It is such a privilege to be able to share. I have loved hearing your stories as well. I am honoured you feel comfortable to share when we work together, or you come to one of my speaking engagements or you are a follower of my social or on my email/newsletter/update list – you are all members of my JAYEM Community and I appreciate you. As that “cheesy” saying goes “Sharing is caring!” I believe that with all my heart.