When The Storyteller Becomes the subject

In August 2021, I began the transition away from my director-level communications day job to open an indie bookshop with my partner, Shaun. It was all the things: amazing, hard, fulfilling, and full of surprises.

One of the biggest surprises to me was how odd it felt to be the subject of the story. I’d spent years conducting interviews and running PR/marketing campaigns for others. Now, it was my turn to be covered by journalists.

When preparing for media moments at our business launch, I cared for myself in the way that I encourage clients and colleagues to care for themselves when prepping for PR moments. I busted out my journal.

JOURNAL PROMPTS //

  • Audience. Who do I especially hope to connect with through this media moment? Why should this audience should care about me (what specifically am I doing for them)? What do I need from my audience? What can I do to make it easy for my audience to take action?

  • The elevator pitch. In 1-2 sentences, describe the business. Language should be clear, simple, and concise. No buzz-words. Leave your fancy pants at home. You want to connect.

  • Differentiating factors. What makes my business special? What am I offering that others are not?

  • Relevance. Why this? Why now? How does my business make the lives of everyday people in my community better? How does the moment of my business launch fit into the larger context of what is happening in society? Why does this business matter?

  • Human heart. Who am I? What makes me uniquely qualified to bring this business to life?

  • Identities + Values. How are my identities and my values expressed through the business? What are examples of where my identities and my values are expressed as business practices, services, or offerings?

  • Ick questions. What don’t I want to be asked? Why not? What conversation would I rather be having about the business?

[Hot tip: these journal prompts can be useful in a variety of contexts: for researchers, authors, artists, and really anyone who is bringing big ideas to life. Just swap out “the business” for “the research,” “the book,” “the exhibition,” etc.]

The journal prompts served me well in developing talking points. My partner and I practiced aloud. We were ready. And things went well — sort of.

To be honest, despite preparation, I underestimated how hard it was to talk about myself. My words were smooth, but my heart was aflutter.

Like many women, I’ve had to duke it out with imposter syndrome at various points of my career. The voices of “expertise” I grew up with were overwhelmingly privileged and male. It’s taken a lot of intentional unlearning to feel good about knowing what I know. For years, I felt like I had a “seat at the table” by some fluke of fate or administrative oversight. I’m not alone in this.

In 2008, journalist Katie Orenstein founded The OpEd Project to support women and BIPOC folks in their quest to own and disseminate their expertise. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to host The OpEd Project on the University of Michigan campus. At the beginning of the workshop, in round-robin fashion, we all went around the room and had to verbally “fill in the blanks” to this puzzle:

“Hello my name is_______. I’m an expert in_________ because________________.”

For many, these might be easy blanks to fill. But for those of us healing from imposter syndrome, we’ll need to prep in advance to address this question concisely, with clarity and confidence.

While our preparation paid off for our bookshop media moments, it was a good reminder to me that my responses to these blanks cannot be a “media interview” assignment only. They really should be a daily mantra. I’m battling something that’s embedded pretty deep: it’s going to take more than a homework assignment to address.

So with that, allow me to introduce myself.

Hello. My name is Truy. I am an expert in marketing and communications because I’ve enjoyed a 20 year career doing so in some of the world’s leading cultural institutions — and because I do it everyday at my indie bookshop.

There. See? That wasn’t so hard. Now it’s just a matter of repeating it daily, saying aloud to get head and heart into alignment. There may be other experts, sure — but you have the mic and you have something to say.

Need help telling your story? Get in touch. I’m here for that.

Check out Booksweet’s launch press in Concentrate, MLive, WDIV, and The Ann Arbor Observer — with forthcoming articles in Business Insider, Ann Arbor Book Society, and Midstory.

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