If we haven’t talked in the last year, I’ll start by saying hello.
I hope you’re well. I probably miss you. And I definitely love you.
If you’re reading this, we are connected in one way or another, and I feel so grateful for the curiosity that brought you here and the attention that you’ll give me for the next three minutes.
What I’m about to say might be new information, but I’m sure it won’t surprise you.
We are starting a nonprofit here in Denver, and I will be working on it full time.
I quit my job. That probably didn’t surprise you either.
The last decade of my LinkedIn profile is laughable. We’ve had too many ideas we believed were worth pursuing, so I hopped between those and “real” jobs for ten years now.
Laughs aside, you know what strikes me? Every one of those jobs, every one of those failed projects, every idea gave us the skills and the resilience required for this next one.
And it’s mine.
It feels immodest to own. Owning something like this has a way of making you feel like a toddler with one hundred helium balloons in their grasp on a windy day.
Unprepared. Nervous. Elated. Undeniable doubt and questioning.
Who would even hand these to me?
Zach and I spent the last year saving so that we could take a calculated risk for this moment.
Here we are, here I am…tiny hands holding balloons in the wind.
I’m terrified and excited and a little bit afraid of what you’re going to say when we talk next.
It’s vulnerable to share what you’re up to when you believe it’s your life’s work.
I was given this vision in 2014, and seven years later, I felt called to get started.
Here we are, here I am…pretending I know what I’m doing and pushing forward anyway.
As someone who seeks vulnerability and connection in relationships—and who runs far, far, far away from those who aren’t willing to reciprocate—it doesn’t get more vulnerable than this for me.
Storyboard is the most valuable work of my life.
I am building it because I believe it’s what I’m here to bring to life.
In 2014, I met a man who was too busy changing the world to update his Facebook page every time he needed funds or volunteers.
Nonprofit leaders who are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the orphan and the widow?
Those people are too busy with their hands in the dirt to clean up and reach out every time they run out of resources.
Storyboard is a nonprofit organization that supports other nonprofits using the art of storytelling.
We partner with nonprofits by interviewing the people they serve, their volunteers, and their leaders, and we tell their stories to our community.
And who is our community? Well, we’re still working on that part, but…
We are building the world’s largest community of everyday philanthropists.
A community of witnesses who will give our storytellers the audience their stories deserve.
A generous community that will give back with their time, money, and influence.
Storyboard is my life’s work because I believe that people are generous, they just don’t always know how to be.
I believe that empathy-fueled generosity is the missing piece to the philanthropy puzzle.
I believe that the storyteller and the person witnessing their story become more empathetic, kind, and generous people through this simple act of connection.
I believe that stories tear down walls, soothe tensions, and eradicate polarization that data and debate can’t.
I believe that connecting through story will fuel communities to meet the needs of their neighbors.
I believe that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in the universe for change, for action, for bringing heaven here.
So here we are, here I am, announcing this moment in its fullness.
We have officially launched Storyboard.
I have more energy coursing through my body, more power, more nerves, more excitement—more, more, more than ever before.
Which could be hard for many of you to believe considering my reputation and capacity for explosive moments of excitement.
But it’s true.
I’ve never been more excited to tell you about something in my life.
I hope you love it, and if you don’t, that’s cool too…but you might want to unfriend or unfollow me because this is only the beginning.
It began the summer of 2014 with the vision, it began last March with the call to move, and today it’s the final beginning, the launch.
Storyboard Co. is live.
