Using storytelling to create a future memory for a new business

by Jacqueline Koch | Apr 27, 2016 | 0 comments

By Janinne Brunyee and Jacqueline Koch

At Boost!, we believe that storytelling is about getting to the core of an organization’s value proposition, and developing narratives that simply and compellingly relate “the story” to customers, prospects, investors, media, employees and others in a way that inspires them to action.

While storytelling is appropriate for organizations at all stages of their lifecycle, it can be a particularly powerful tool for new-to-the world organizations who need to create a compelling vision – a future memory – that people see themselves in and want to support.  For these young organizations, a well-written storyline can be the foundation for attracting investors, engaging and vetting employees, and guiding all planning and development activities pre and post-launch.

The Boost! team recently completed a Collective Storytelling exercise for RIZE, a pre-startup in Seattle that aims to be a place where women ‘lead and learn.’ A key component of the final RIZE storyline is the future memory – starting with an article that describes what founder Erica Atnip hopes RIZE will be at launch. Then, a second article describes the vision for RIZE five years on. Both of these articles are a powerful illustration of how a narrative approach can be used to engage key audiences – investors, landlords, employees and clients – in a powerful and deeply personal way and invite then to join the RIZE movement.

Article 1:   In the beginning

PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL – SPECIAL EDITION, WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Dancing toward empowerment: teaching women to lead one step at a time

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were oil-and-water when the political discussion turned to the empowerment of women. And it was during the early stages of the 2016 campaign trail when the outlook on gender equality took an even more confusing turn not just in televised debates, but also in the news. A CNN report declared a “stunning” lack of women in corporate leadership roles worldwide. In a study of 22,000 companies in 91 countries, half had no female top executives. Within days, by contrast, the New York Times highlighted a study that found companies with women in at least 30 percent leadership positions adds 6 percent to a company’s net profit margin.

How does our society reconcile these two very divergent narratives of women’s roles in business? Exploring how women fare in the corporate landscape of the Puget Sound led this reporter to an unexpected destination: a dance studio.

Inside a brightly lit converted warehouse, a group of tween girls stake their claim on giant cushions stacked in the communal social area. They are busy giggling and chatting. Laptops littered about, they simply hang out as much as they work on getting ahead on school assignments while waiting for dance class to start. To look at them, gender issues in the workplace might not the first topic that comes to mind. That changes as soon as 12-year-old Alexandra Collins explains why she’s here.

“I’m learning tango,” she said, “but if you ask my mom, I’m learning to be a leader.”

Taking leadership from the dance floor and into the classroom, the sports team or the executive suite may be a leap for some. Not for Erica Atnip, who just opened RIZE where she is teaching girls and women to be lead tango dancers.

“I started as a follower just like everyone else,” explained Atnip, a professional dancer and instructor. “But when I started to lead, it changed everything.”

Atnip sees a direct link between women’s role in social dance and in society. The experience of leading in dance places girls and women in a decisive role, requiring them to move powerfully and solidly, readily translates to other aspects of their lives. She describes the transformation she observed repeatedly when teaching girls from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

“When they begin referring to themselves as leaders, taking on the responsibility of making decisions, it is dramatic to see how quickly their confidence soars. Their ability to advocate for themselves and their emotional well-being grows stronger,” she noted.

Atnip points to a growing body of neuroscience research on the mind body connection, clearly indicating how much of our leadership behavior is actually embodied.

Parents noticed too. “My daughter discovered her voice, confidence in her ability and soon it was reflected in her attitude toward learning at school,” said Marine Nyugen, whose daughter, Natalie has been enrolled with Atnip for three years, following her from one teaching venue to another. “To learn to be fearless is the most valuable lesson my daughter will ever learn.”

RIZE was borne from Atnip’s rise through the world of professional dance which was brought to a suddenly halt when she was struck by a minivan.

“I was suddenly focused solely on healing from a traumatic brain injury, broken bones, and torn ligaments,” she recalled. “I glimpsed a path to make myself and others stronger – in body, mind and soul – through dance and the determination to pursue this model of teaching in a much bigger way.”

The model doesn’t end with dance. RIZE offers a range of classes that push girls and women beyond traditional roles. A play area is open to young tots while mom takes yoga. In the back of the space, the faint sound of tools clanking against concrete can be heard. It’s the auto shop where Atnip’s vision for the center evolved from teaching vocational skills to creating a small business opportunity. The idea has been well received by RIZE clients and shop customers.

Two teen girls and a middle-aged woman assist Mose Barrera, who owns her own auto repair shop in West Seattle but is spearheading the effort to teach car maintenance to RIZE members.

Whitney Dillon, 44, wears faded overalls and steps aside to grab a water bottle. She explains that she is learning how to change the oil on her own car at RIZE to save money after a financially devastating divorce. “My husband used to do it for us, and there’s no reason I can’t, I want to save money and there’s no reason to rely on other people to do it,” she said.

“My vision is to empower girls and women wherever they are in their lives,” Atnip added. “I want RIZE to show them that all paths are open to them and to reinforce their confidence to move forward in any direction they choose.”

 ARTICLE TWO: RIZE – four years on

SEATTLE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE

Leading on the dance floor to take the lead in the boardroom

Bright light streams through a large airy room in a South Lake Union collective workspace. It’s Saturday morning and a professional development workshop is about to begin. Hot coffee and snacks are on offer for two dozen participants who start to trickle in. Two women move about the room, organizing the space. But instead of lining up tables and chairs, placing pads and pens, and passing around projector handouts, they are moving furniture out of the way, to the edge of the room and clearing the floor. An iPod is plugged into the sound system and tango music fills the air.

“This is a fun, engaging and effective way to work with business women who want to sharpen their leadership skills,” says Erica Atnip. The founder of RIZE, a women’s empowerment hub in Georgetown will be spearheading the workshop, which boils down to an unconventional and intensive tango lesson. “We call it ‘Lead In,’ and it empowers women through movement and dance.”

It’s a time-worn adage: It takes two to tango. Building on this premise, Atnip believes leading in tango offers women a lot of important lessons that translate into other parts of their lives.

The Lead In workshop is an extension of dance classes offered at RIZE, launched in 2016. RIZE, hailing itself as a place “where women learn and lead,” provides an eclectic mix of training that goes beyond the dance floor and yoga studio to an adjoining auto shop and carpenter’s workshop.

“The entire project was borne of the idea that women are powerful, can take any direction they choose, but they also needed a safe space to explore their options,” Atnip explained. Tango, with an emphasis on putting women in the lead role, was a core offering when RIZE Center first opened its doors. “As a teacher, I discovered how powerful and natural it was to be in the role of the leader and I saw the way it transformed my students. And the research on neuroscience, movement and leadership was confirming what I was witnessing in my own studio.”

Social dance has been used in cities across the United States in the effort to address social issues. In LA’s most violent cities for example, ballroom dance classes are teaching troubled youth empathy. And the results are tangible. In a 2014-2015 survey of L.A.-area school principals, 66 percent reported an “increased acceptance of others” among their student bodies, while 81 percent of students said they treated others with more respect, following the program.

“[Dance] is incredibly effective in terms of social-emotional development and in terms of being able to incorporate kids from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different social backgrounds and have them do something common,” said Rob Horowitz, the associate director of the Center for Arts Education Research at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Tango lessons as a professional development model might raise eyebrows. Yet Seattle is a town that supports two trapeze arts schools, so it’s not surprising that the Lean In workshop has raised considerable interest.

“We’ve booked workshops across the city every weekend for the next eight months,” explains Atnip. She points to an additional benefit the workshop offers, not to the participants themselves, but to girls in underserved communities: 20 percent of all registration fees go toward scholarships at RIZE. “I tell everyone who signs up that Lead In comes with strings attached, in a positive way. We’ve raised enough money to date to help more than 200 middle school girls. It’s about women supporting women—of all ages— and it’s a great way to pay it forward.”