StoryMaven Podcast with Alice Fairfax

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.

In this episode of the StoryMaven Podcast, Michael James Scott, the Broadway star and beloved Genie in the Broadway production of Disney's Aladdin reminded me who I am, and to be unapologetically me. He has boiled his brand story down to one word: Fierce. He tells us what it means to be Fierce and how you can be unapologetically you too.

In this episode of the StoryMaven Podcast, Stasha Boyd, teaches us how tell a true story by creating an emotional goal AND how to handle all the different stakeholders.

Stasha is the producer and creator of audio tours for museums, national parks like Mt. Rushmore and attractions like Kennedy Space Center. She knows a thing or two about making facts a story and meeting the multiple needs of her clients who are often a committee. Her techniques for telling a story from true facts will equip you to turn info copy into story.

Shalisa James is an award-winning vocalist, a member of Toxic Audio and the owner of a business, Entertainment Central that provides singers and entertainment to markets, cruise ships and events around the world. That’s what hits me right in my heart — an artist who built a business that serves a n audience and employs other great artists. The commitment it takes to be an entrepreneur and get it all done, while maintaining your own voice blows me away. I know so many of you are doing that right now. I want you to hear Shalisa’s message, because you deserve to be reminded that your voice counts. Your voice matters. Your vision and the business you built matters.

Mark Daniel has a tool box and wow, the tools he has to share will make all of us better storytellers! He’s the host of The Telly Award Winner "inside Disney Parks", along with The Disney Parks Blog LIVE Streams. He’s also the current Warm Up and Panel Host for Star Wars Celebration USA & Europe, New York Comic Con, Playlist Live, C2E2. And is the warm up host for the  The Daytime-Emmy-Winning Disney Parks Unforgettable Christmas Celebration on ABC television.

In this episode we talk about his work as a warm-up host for celebrities like Sting, Harrison Ford and Disney’s Descendants. Mark and I worked together for many years and we share the same approach to telling your story — you need a tool box filled with great tools.  Because every audience is different, every moment is different and each moment requires you to adapt. Mark opens up our shared toolbox and even gives me a few new tools for mine.  So be sure to stick around for my Storymaven Takeaways after the interview! Now here’s my conversation with my friend Mark Daniel.

Trying to launch a new business is hard. Especially when you have to do ALL the things. For Mike & Julie of Kid Save the World, that meant writing, composing & creating the music, doing the voices, singing, editing, producing and doing all the marketing for their new podcast ‘The Super Secret Hive’. Seems to have paid off! They were featured in the NY Times this month. In this week’s StoryMaven podcast we talk process, perspective and trying before you evaluate.

If This Week Has You Feeling Stuck…Don’t fret. We are all on a hero’s journey. One of my best gal pals Clare Sera joins me to talk about our own journey’s, finding our 'Page 60' or where we consistently get stuck, and moving past it.  Clare is a screenwriter living and working in Los Angeles. Her big name films include Smallfoot — the Warner Brothers animated film about a A Yeti who is convinced that the elusive creatures known as "humans" really do exist. And yes she spent most of 2017 trapped in a sound booth with Channing Tatum. She also wrote Blended, a romantic comedy which starred Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.  We've been friends for many years and one of our favorite activities is Porch Time. We’ve spent many hours on porches across the country with a glass of wine or mug of tea talking about our lives, our art and our craft. In this virtual porch time we get into moving past blocks, how we schedule creative time and more.

If you are walking through a hard time and wonder if you’ll ever be able to tell the story, you need to meet Dr. LaVon Wright Bracy, author of "A Brave Little Cookie". Not only does she share her compelling story of desegregating Gainesville High School in 1964, she tells us the process of writing a children’s book about her experience some 50 years later. Most of us are struggling through the challenges of 2020. Bracy has been there, seen it, lived it and wrote the story. For those of us that need to be encouraged to keep going, she’s got you. For those that need the spark to tell your own story, pick up a pen. You’re about to be motivated.

We all want people to connect to our stories.  That means that our story has to be relatable.  We need to hit the sweet spot of what our audience wants and needs and what we have to offer.  In this episode, host Alice Fairfax shares her story telling mantra to help listeners craft stories that connect. 

StoryMaven podcast is designed for busy entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders. Are you are running the business while being the spokesperson—coming up with social posts and trying to craft and deliver a great speech? In interviews with expert storytellers, host Alice Fairfax gets the secrets to telling a great story, from a Tweet to a TED Talk. From her days as an improvisational storyteller at Walt Disney World, Alice created over 50 essential story tools and in this podcast covers the best ways to Tell Your Story.