The Starfish Storytellers

In honor of Pride Month 2024, we were honored to hear our friend Danielle Smith’s Coming AWARE story. This UMM Research Administrator shared her journey of when she came out, how the DEI department at the university is making a difference with their inclusive programming, and how best to connect with your queer colleagues, friends, and neighbors. We also share some resources for anyone who may nee...

In our next episode of The Starfish Storytellers, we welcome Linda Frederick, an Exercise Physiologist with over 30 years of experience and a Reiki Master Healer. We dug into healing stories and how to use mindfulness to transform your life into wellness. Using “bedtime” stories and supportive women’s stories, Linda shares some tools, tactics, modalities, and easy ideas to help our listeners achie...

Our next guest on The Starfish Storytellers is my friend Tom Libby. Tom has been a Sales VP and Business Development Executive for over 20 years with a passion for helping companies with sales management and training across many industries. He believes that sales is about solving a problem first. In this episode, Tom shares networking success stories, how to navigate partnerships, and the importan...

“Laugh and the world laughs with you”. Or “Laughter is the best medicine”. These two sayings tout the power of humor. There is something to be said about capturing your audience’s attention by infusing stories with humor. If it makes sense, incorporating a theme or light tone is one of the quickest ways to strike a connection with your audience. In this episode, we welcomed our friend, Scott MacNe...

Social impact storytelling and donor stories help organizations that are seeking to inspire donors while standing out to touch hearts and evoke empathy. Fundraising storytelling especially fosters connections and drives impactful contributions. In this episode, we welcomed Mary Lyman, Director of Community Relations, and Julie Bloise, Communications and Marketing Director, from the Greater Lawrenc...

This fast-paced episode is about the many nuances of sports storytelling, through the lens of a Correspondent for the talented Boston Bruins NHL hockey team. Our friend, Shawn Hutcheon, a correspondent of the Boston Bruins Media Program for The Fourth Period Magazine, a sports radio commentator, a member of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, and a hockey player rep and skills coach, tak...

Having a place to share your stories, especially where you can get feedback, makes you a proficient storyteller.  This can happen at live events, online in communities, or with story coaches.  In this episode, writer, storyteller, and toastmaster Peter Ash stops by to tell us all about the story communities and events he’s been a part of  - such as NEST, Story Space, and Sharing the...

Storytelling in content marketing transforms marketing collateral into effective brand tools. It allows businesses to engage emotionally with their target audience by creating a more memorable customer experience.  In this episode, we welcomed Becki Harrington-Davis, Brand Storyteller, Executive Ghostwriter,  and Corporate Comms Professional, who outlines for us the ways that content mar...

Journalists and public relations professionals take us on a journey when they tell a story. To be a good storyteller across the media, you have to be able to get close and convey that. In doing so, you’ll connect with the reader in a memorable way.  In this episode, we welcomed our friend Tom Zuppa,  PR Practitioner from John Guilfoil Public Relations and former Managing Editor for The S...

It is really important to know what our predecessors faced in order for us to live the life we have today. Through historical narratives, those of us in the here and now have a way to organize and frame everyday life from a historical orientation to give people a way to situate themselves.    Sharon McDonald, the Historian for Bedford Massachusetts, sat down with us to share how she...

In this second episode of our second season, we meet Delaney Gembis, a Social Media Manager at a local Biometrics company and a volunteer social media manager for an animal rescue. When she is not developing organic social media content to build a trustworthy brand image for the company, she’s using her storytelling skills to build engagement for the rescue’s social media community. From content c...

When you put a visionary, a problem solver, an organizer, and a creative together, what do you get? Well, our talented core team, of course! In this kick-off episode for 2024, the team at The Black Dog Group sat down to share stories about our first year in business - what challenged us, what we achieved, and what were a few of our favorite things. We make predictions for 2024 in our respective ar...

Examining our own narratives can help us grow personally, spiritually, or professionally. Sometimes we can get there on our own, but sometimes we need the assistance of a Life Guidance Coach. In this episode, we chat with Jude Mullins, a Reiki Healer, Evidential Medium, and Life Guidance Coach who helps her clients become more attuned and balanced by excavating and examining their own deeply layer...

In this episode, we welcome Dale Grenfell, Storytelling instructor, presenter, and facilitator who has taken her storytelling skills to the classroom and the stage. She has used storytelling in peace circles and within restorative justice programs both in classrooms and prisons to demonstrate the power of storytelling to heal harm. Storytelling connects when there is discord by bringing vulnerabil...

In this episode, we welcomed Elena Ulanovsky, award-winning author, screenwriter, and independent movie producer from Ukraine, who emigrated to Israel and later moved to the US. Elena shared summaries about each book she penned, what she learned along the way, and how some of her fiction was a premonition of the war in Ukraine today. Elena has found that the storytelling in her books and screenpla...

In this episode, we welcomed Alison Cservenschi, the Director of the Council on Aging in Bedford, Massachusetts to chat about senior stories and celebrating lives well-lived. Seniors have made decisions that have shaped our lives and communities, and listening to their journeys informs us about the world around us. We talked about how seniors benefit from connecting with each other, the heartfelt...

In this special episode we are calling a ‘CEO’s Cut’, I talk about The Superpower of Storytelling, Moth Style. I did this podcast solo to talk about this amazing organization and its concise story framework which I know our listeners would find helpful for telling better stories. As you listen, you’ll hear all the steps you’ll need to get yourself Moth-stage ready. From mining for memories to rehe...

In this episode, Awilda Irizzary, Senior Business Advisor at the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, outlines what three things all small businesses must have in order to get started, why so many fail within the first five years, and how brand storytelling is critical to connecting with your target audience. By telling your company story in all the right places, you will evoke emotion...

In this episode about public speaking, we welcomed long-time Toastmaster Bob Avallone who shared tips for creating memorable speeches and presentations by using storytelling. He walks us through his speech-writing process, encouraging practice, practice, and more practice in a variety of ways - by speaking it, writing it, and recording it. Some of the most noteworthy speeches have stories at their...

In this episode on Social Impact Storytelling, we welcomed two guests - Rev. Annie Gonzalez & Rev. Megan Lynes, First Parish Unitarian and Universalist Pastors in Bedford, Massachusetts. They shared social justice stories about the many ways the congregation is effecting change. From using resources to help other congregations on the front lines of such social issues as climate change, transge...

In this episode, I welcome my friend and award-winning graphic designer Jeff Surette who drives home how important collaboration is when working with a copywriter. Visuals need to be adapted to complement the message but be sure to not make it all about the artwork. He explains his process for visual flow in order to enhance a story and encourages new designers to just look at the things around th...

In this episode, we welcome award-winning journalist, poet, and fiction author Meg Smith who takes us through her passion for writing. Her brilliance and expertise as a journalist shine through as she shares the importance of exploring all sides of an issue, how covering challenging stories is the best teacher, and how the community’s trust in their beat journalist is sacred. Meg lets us in on her...

In our next episode, we sat down with our friend Colleen Sgroi, Award-Winning Children’s Book Illustrator and New England hometown favorite Folk Artist and Watercolor Instructor. Colleen shares her journey through book illustration and how a well written story inspires and sparks her memorable designs that help readers better understand what they are reading. We take a nostalgic walk through some...

In this episode, we welcome Rachel McLean, technology product manager and active member of a professional women’s group. Rachel shares her story and how she went on to land the career she always wanted through sheer determination, perseverance, and a whole lot of smarts. She encourages listeners on a professional path to find a mentor, have clear goals, and rely on other women as their allies.

In this episode, we welcome Leslie Baker, LGBTQ+ advocate and chair of an LGBTQ+ employee group. Leslie shares her own coming out experience, how the current political environment is impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and how important it is - especially for young people - to have a support network behind you when deciding to share your own LGBTQ+ stories.