Stories That Shape Us: What Happens When We Listen Together

At Narativ, we often say that storytelling begins with listening.

Not performance.
Not polish.
Not perfectly crafted messaging.

Listening.

That truth came to life once again in a recent Leadership Story Talks Live event, where hosts Jerome Deroy and Julienne Ryan invited three storytellers—Gina Leow, Derek McCracken, and Dr. LaNysha Adams—to share personal moments that shaped how they lead, connect, and make meaning in their lives and work.

What unfolded was more than a live storytelling session. It was a reminder that when people are willing to speak honestly—and others are willing to listen fully—stories become a powerful space for reflection, healing, and connection.

This Was Not a Performance

From the start, Jerome framed the event differently.

This was not meant to feel like a traditional stage performance, with a single storyteller in the spotlight and everyone else fading into the dark. Instead, everyone remained visible on screen: the storytellers, the hosts, and the visible signs of a listening community gathering in real time.

That choice reflected something essential about Narativ’s approach:

Stories do not happen in a vacuum.
They are shaped by the people who receive them.

The way we listen affects the way others speak. Presence matters. Attention matters. And in a world full of distracted multitasking and half-finished conversations, choosing to be fully present is no small thing.

Gina Leow: Choosing Yourself After Shame

The first story came from Gina Leow, a people and culture leader and co-author of Connecting Through Circles.

Gina brought listeners back to a childhood ballet recital. She was on stage with her best friend, dressed in costume, moving through the performance—until a small wardrobe mishap turned into something much bigger. Her headpiece slipped. She missed a beat. She recovered. But backstage, instead of comfort or encouragement, she was met with a scream from her ballet teacher:

“You messed up.”

That moment stayed with her.

What made Gina’s story so resonant was not only the pain of that memory, but the way she revisited it through later experiences—as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching in China, as a participant in barre classes decades later, and as a leader reflecting on the environments we create for others.

Over time, the story changed. It was no longer simply about quitting ballet. It became a story about choosing herself. About recognizing what kind of leadership she wanted around her—and what kind she wanted to embody for others.

Her story reminded us that leadership is often shaped not only by who encouraged us, but by who hurt us—and by the choices we make afterward.

Derek McCracken: The Characters We Become

Next came Derek McCracken, whose story moved from zoo docent to Easter Bunny to Hallmark Cards to narrative health.

Derek’s gift as a storyteller was clear from the first line, when he opened with a quote:

“Get ready for battle. It’s tween time.”

At that moment, listeners didn’t yet know what the line meant. But by the time he returned to it later, the context had arrived: Derek, dressed in a too-large Easter Bunny costume at the Kansas City Zoo, facing waves of increasingly ruthless children during a sequence of Easter egg hunts.

The story was hilarious, vivid, and full of memorable detail. But it also carried something deeper.

Derek reflected on his early experience selling zoo memberships—learning to connect through eye contact, timing, language, and vision rather than just information. He was not simply selling entry to the zoo. He was inviting people into a bigger story: the future of the zoo, and their place in it.

That lesson carried into later work in branding, licensing, and eventually narrative health literacy.

His story was a reminder that even the most unexpected jobs can shape us in meaningful ways. Sometimes what feels random or strange in the moment becomes foundational later. The role may seem temporary. The lesson often is not.

Dr. LaNysha Adams: Support Can Keep You Alive, But You Still Have to Get Up

The final story came from Dr. LaNysha Adams, TEDx speaker, author of Me Power, and director of student wellness at Santa Fe Community College.

LaNysha did not ease listeners into her story. She dropped them straight into it:

She woke up restrained to a hospital bed, unable to see, tubes in her throat, panic rising. She learned she had been in a coma for a week. She learned her husband had saved her life by performing CPR. And she learned, slowly and painfully, what it meant to recover.

The story was gripping from the first sentence because it placed listeners directly inside the moment. But what made it unforgettable was the turn.

LaNysha described the long stillness of those hospital days, the loss of independence, and the absence of any inner motivational speech. There was no triumphant voice in her head telling her she could do it. There was just silence.

And then there was a physical therapist who saw her, connected with her, and offered a simple but life-changing truth: she could recover faster, but she had to decide.

That became the heart of the story:

Support can keep you alive. But at some point, you have to decide to get up.

It was a powerful insight not only about healing, but about leadership, agency, and transformation. Others can guide us, care for us, and help us survive. But eventually, something in us must choose the next step.

What These Stories Shared

On the surface, these three stories were very different.

A ballet recital.
An Easter Bunny costume.
A hospital room.

And yet together, they revealed some common truths.

They showed how early experiences linger and shape us.
They showed how shame can become self-knowledge.
They showed how odd jobs can become leadership lessons.
They showed how humor and pain can coexist in the same story.
And above all, they showed that real transformation begins when someone feels seen, heard, and met honestly.

Each storyteller also demonstrated something important about story craft itself:

• Gina showed the emotional power of returning to an old wound with new understanding.
• Derek showed how suspense, specificity, and humor can carry a meaningful message.
• LaNysha showed the strength of dropping listeners directly into the action and trusting them to stay with you.

But beyond craft, what mattered most was the humanity in the room.

Why Listening Still Comes First

Throughout the event, Jerome and Julienne kept returning to one idea: listening shapes stories.

That is true for the teller, who often discovers meaning in the act of being heard. And it is true for the listener, who becomes part of the story’s impact simply by showing up fully.

This is one reason Narativ continues to create spaces like Leadership Story Talks Live. In a culture that prizes speed, certainty, and polished delivery, we believe in slowing down long enough for something real to emerge.

Because storytelling is not just about saying more.

It is about saying something true—
and having it land.

One Story at a Time

As the event closed, Julienne offered a simple invitation: take one story you heard today and carry it into a conversation this week.

That may be the most important takeaway of all.

Stories do not end when the event ends.
They travel.
They echo.
They shape how we speak to others and how we understand ourselves.

And that is how this work grows.

Not only in workshops or on live stages, but in everyday life—one story, one listener, one moment of connection at a time.

LISTEN to the storytellers on Leadership Story Talks ~ HERE