Lisa Bloom is a storyteller and author who’s passionate about the art and business of storytelling. She runs a business called The Story Coach and helps entrepreneurs to de-stress their marketing and find their unique success stories. After traveling the world and working a variety of jobs, she settled down in Israel, where she lives with her husband and sons. From there, she built up her Story Coaching business, developed Narrative Based Leadership Programs, and delivered many global conference keynotes and workshops. She is also the manager of Mirasee's ACES (Accountability, Coaching & Community, Expertise, and Service) program.

     In this episode, Lisa shares what making it means to her. She starts by describing her Irish-Jewish background which, she says jokingly, predisposed her to become a storyteller. Lisa then goes on to explain the way her life adventures and storytelling abilities helped her build a successful business that's meaningful, adds value, and is of service to others.  

“I wanted to empower others to be able to understand the power of story and tell their own stories. And that's when it shifted into a business.” – Lisa Bloom



Guest Bio: Following a successful corporate career, Lisa became an entrepreneur, author, speaker and coach. She built a global business Story Coach Ltd., supporting corporates, entrepreneurs and coaches with speaking mastery, leadership capability and marketing impact.  Lisa is the author of the bestsellers, The Story Advantage and Cinderella and the Coach.

     Lisa joined Mirasee to support entrepreneurs in the ACES Program, to achieve outstanding results in the growth of their business through results orientation and student support systems. As the Director of ACES, she is responsible for the ACES student experience — creating the infrastructure and the success team that our students need to accelerate business growth.

     There’s nothing Lisa loves more than to spend time with her partner and their 4 sons, walk her dog, travel, read and share stories.

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1. Track Title: Finnegan's Lament

Artist Name(s): Caleb Etheridge

Writer Name: Caleb Etheridge

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

2. Track Title: Morning In Belfast

Artist Name(s): Third Age

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Artist Name(s): Sounds Like Sander

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4. Track Title: The Sunniest Kids

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• Episode transcript: It’s All About the Story (Lisa Bloom)

 [00:00:03] Lisa Bloom: Some years ago, I was at a conference and a woman came up to me and she started talking to me as if she knew me and I didn't know who she was. And eventually I said, you know, do I know you? And she said oh I'm sorry I'd be on your list for years. And then I said, oh thank you. And we started talking and then she said to me, you know, I have to tell you, she put her hand on my shoulders, that I have to tell you. You're exactly like I imagined you were from hearing the way you write, there's something very real about you and that was something I was very pleased about. You know, I think in some ways my brand is kind of authenticity and being real and and that's what I try to live and so I think I'm proud of having achieved that. I'm Lisa Bloom and you're listening to Making It. I run a business called Story-Coach, working with entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders to build creative yet resilient cultures lead to change and build their businesses with the power of storytelling. 

 

     When I started, I discovered that there was quite a distinction between the person who was able to do what they do, like the expertise that they had and the person who could talk about it in a way that was compelling and so again and again. And initially I began in the coaching world, I would see these bright, committed, talented people and I would ask them, you know, what do you do or how do you know, what do you do or tell me about your business? And they would just kind of stumble and stutter and just not be at all inspiring in the way they spoke about it and I realized that it's not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be able to talk about it in a way that's compelling.

 

     You know, I joke often and I say that, you know, I have a genetic predisposition to becoming a storyteller because I'm Irish and Jewish and both of those cultures are so full of stories. My father loved to tell stories, but my father also had, we had a lot of visitors who would come to our home and share meals and one of my father and my parents friends was actually a Carmelite priest and he came to our home and he gave me a gift of bible stories. And then every time he would visit, which was not very often he would come, he would see how I was and he would pull out the book of bible stories and read me stories and I have that book to this day, but he's one of the people that reminded me of, you know, that I think of as my first storyteller and part of why that experience stayed with me was because I felt very special. I felt like he saw me in a way, even though I was the youngest child and even though I was the one that perhaps didn't have the smartest conversation, he chose me to tell these stories to and the stories were very deep, warm, um interesting stories I was captured and I felt special and I felt seen and heard and safe and that's essentially the experience of story that was magical for me and was what I wanted to help others see and experience. 

     And remember when you tell a story, no matter what the situation is, it's it's like this magnet. Suddenly people kind of just our cept into this experience that is age old, it's in our, I mean we're wired, it's in our brains, but it's in our culture, it's in who we are and it fulfills a place that's so deep that certainly social media and these kind of very superficial connections can't at all meat. And I think that's why there's been a kind of a resurrection of this age old art and science of storytelling and what's happening now is people are realizing that's, you know, that's what we crave as people, that's what we crave. But it's about the experience of the listener who, from hearing the story feels that they recognize something in themselves that they've either forgotten or that they never knew and that motivates people to behave differently or to take a certain action. That's why it's so powerful. So if you're telling a great story, it's not about the ego of the storyteller, it's not even necessarily about the message of the story is more about the individual recognizing a deep need or a deep awareness about themselves and that motivates them to do something else. 

 

     Making it means to me the ability to live a life that's meaningful and that adds value to yourself and others that is of service to others, but also fulfills you. So I think it's different for every person for me. I think the thing I'm most fulfilled by is the ability to have been able to kind of create this business around my, my family around the place and the people I wanted to be with, and it's something that I'm always looking at that and I'm always reassessing that I always loved being in the classroom. I was very attracted by that experience of just sharing an experience around teaching and learning. And initially, I think I told stories in the classroom because it amused me because it was something that I kind of naturally did without really noticing when I went into business after I left my corporate career and began to notice how really horrible stories, you know, people just didn't know how to tell stories, especially in the coaching industry and people don't know how to talk about what they do. I was invited to a storytelling performance and I walked into this room and there were two people on the stage, one was playing the guitar, the other was a woman telling stories. And as they began to tell these traditional tales, I had this sensation of, I kind of felt like the walls were shaking and I just felt like that's what I've been doing all this time. Like I had this almost sense of, oh, that's who I am and I didn't quite realize and it was phenomenal, It was profound and I think many people have that experience, what they discovered. The thing they're supposed to do is they realized, oh there's this kind of falling into place of everything. And so I walked into this environment, I thought, oh gosh, this is this is it, this is what I've been doing all these years. And I didn't really know that, that's what it was called. 

 

     And I immediately went up to the woman on the stage and I said, I need to learn with you, like please, I want to sign up for your course, like right now and then realizing sometime after that, that I don't want to be an entertainer, I don't want to do this French team, but I want to empower others to be able to understand the power of story and tell their own stories and that's when it shifted into a business. Mhm. I mean, I remember the first time I was invited to go to a mastermind where there was a whole financial aspect to it, remember turning around to my partner and saying, you know, I don't know anything about finance, I felt both in high school, what am I doing this for? And he looked at me and he's like, what are you talking about? You have an M. B. A. Like you studied finance at the highest, like, what are you talking about? But I didn't see myself that way. I had done the NBA to progress my career and that's the limits within which I saw myself until my life took on a different direction and I realized I didn't want to have that kind of life. I didn't want to build my family life around my career. I wanted some kind of career that would be built around my life around around my family and the things that are important to me. And so that became the priority. What can I do that's going to support the core things I want in my life, which is to be around my kids, to have the flexibility and to have a decent income that wasn't limited and wasn't determined by somebody else. 

 

     It's the impact that you have on others that makes a difference. It's oftentimes the impact that you never know about that makes a difference. Yeah. And I think if anything, the thing you have to focus on is being resilient and being clear and being determined and being focused and just to keep going no matter what comes your way. And there have been times where it's been really, really hard and I thought I would throw it all in and I was giving it all up many, many times, but somehow I think having a clear vision of, not necessarily the one thing you want to achieve, but more what's the way you want to live? Mhm. And I think one of the lessons I've learned is that things happen when they need to happen and some, it's not always on the time scale that I assume my son was at the 0.1 of my sons was at the point where he, I felt he ought to know how to ride a bicycle. You know, he was already older than I think I was and then his brothers were when, when, when they learned and he was a kind of an awkward kid who didn't have great balance and I would take him outside and I kind of roll up my sleeves and say, okay, we're going to do it today, and I'd hold onto the handlebars and hold onto the saddle and push him off and he hated it, he just hated it, and he would fall and then he would cry, I don't want to do this. And I was very determined, it was time for him to learn to ride the bicycle, and then eventually he's like, I don't want to do this. So I said, okay, we won't do it, we'll take a break. And weeks went by. And then suddenly one day he said to me, mommy, I think I want to learn to ride the bike. So I said, great, So we go outside and again, I'm ready, you know, rolling up my sleeves ready to get going. And I said, how do you want to do this? Shall I hold here, shall I hold that? He's like, no mom, it's fine. And he got on the bike and he just cycled away, he just rode away, he was ready and I stood there thinking, oh, okay, this is what I do, I push and push and push and push, and sometimes I just gotta wait till the right moment and I've got to be patient, I've got to be granted and clear and then things happen when they need to, 

 

I'm Lisa Bloom and you've been listening to Making It, you can find me at story dash coach dot com or on social media at Story Coach 

 

     Danny: Making It is a Mirasee FM Original production. This episode of Making it was assembled by Geoff Govertsen. Cynthia Lamb produced the episode. Danny Bermant is our associate producer and Danny Iny, that's me, is our executive producer. 

 

If you liked this episode, you might want to check out Just Between Coaches, the podcast that explores the really tough issues that coach's face every day. So you don't miss the really great episodes that are coming up on Making It go ahead and subscribe on apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you like the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Thank you. We'll see you next time.