STORY COACHING FOR LEADERS
Your next chapter is calling.
Let's find the story that gets you there.
You've built something real. Now you know you're ready for more: to step up as a leader, grow your team or your business, or take your work in a bolder direction. So why do you freeze or undersell yourself every time it's your turn to talk about it?
Story Coaching helps you find the superpowers and purpose already inside your story, so you can step into what's next with clarity and confidence.
You're ready for more.
So why can't you find the words for it?
You lead the team. You've delivered for years. People come to you when things get hard.
But when it's your turn to share your story, the words come out flat, whether that’s in a team presentation, an interview, a social media post, or when someone asks you the annoying question "so what do you do?" at a networking event. Your answer sounds like a bland job description. Or you ramble. Maybe you quickly deflect the conversation away from yourself.
And every time you do, a quiet, self-conscious voice asks:
Who am I to share my story? Who am I to go after this next big thing?
So you stay where you are. The promotion goes to someone louder. The business idea stays in your notes app. The good work your team does stays invisible, and so do you.
You've tried to fix it. You've polished the presentation deck. You've asked AI for a better bio, but it sounded generic and off. Maybe you've worked with a coach before, but the gains you got with that support have disappeared.
And let's be honest, you're so busy there's never enough time to sit down and actually figure out your story alone.
Meanwhile, you have a big moment coming up.
You have a talk on the calendar. An interview you’re prepping for. A dormant LinkedIn feed you want to nurture. It feels overwhelming. You don’t know where to start.
The truth is, the opportunity won't wait for you to feel ready.
Story before telling
It's not a telling problem. It's a story problem.
Remember storytelling is two words: Story + Telling.
📣 The Telling
The tactic and the output: the specific words you use, the slides you create, the post you craft. AI is getting very good at the telling.
🧭 The Story
The reflection and meaning-making underneath: your superpowers, your values, your purpose, and the connection to something bigger.
Most of us do it backwards. We polish the deck, tighten the talk, ask AI for a better bio. But if you skip the story and jump straight to the telling, you're just generating more noise.
So we start with story.
When you pause to explore where you've been and the story you're living right now, you can plot where you want to go next with a lot more confidence. Then the telling gets easier, in the talk, the interview, the post, and the hallway conversation.
What happens when leaders start with story
+80%
"I know how to use story to shape the career I want."
+78%
"I know how to shape my stories to engage my audience."
+61%
"I know how to find meaningful stories from my life and career."
Average self-ratings from kickoff to wrap-up surveys from 18 of my 1:1 Story Coaching clients, 2023 to 2026. No one's rating went down on any question.
Meet Your Coach
Hi! I’m Liz
I spent 20 years in story. For the first 15 years of my career, I focused on telling other people’s stories as Global Creative Lead at Airbnb, on the Obama 2012 campaign, and producing TV (yes, including a wild summer on a Bravo dating show. Ask me about it!)
Then, in 2020, I got laid off and I had to explore my own stories for the first time. Sitting under a tree, crying, I told myself: this is a story about the time I lost my job. But it's going to be a story about how I found myself.
Exploring my own past, present, and possible stories showed me what I loved (helping people use their stories for good) and what came next. Now I help others use their stories to do the same.
Today, I coach founders and leaders and train teams at places like Pinterest, Stanford, and Deloitte to use their personal stories to capture attention, communicate better, and spark meaningful change. I've watched directors walk into rooms they used to dread, founders name what they do for the first time, and people who thought they had nothing to say find the story that changes everything.
That's why I start with story before telling. When you give yourself the gift of a pause to explore, you find the wisdom and purpose already living in your stories: past, present, and, most importantly, possible.
I’ve been featured in:
Story Coaching Overview
How we work together
In our first three months together, we'll move through three phases. We start with the moment you came in for, and we go deeper from there.
After three months, many clients keep going. Some check in when a new moment comes up. Either way, the stories are yours for good.
Explore.
We dig through your life and career for the moments that shaped you, and uncover your superpowers, values, and bigger purpose.
Shape.
We turn them into stories for the rooms that matter: your intro, your keynote, your interview answers, your LinkedIn bio and posts.
Share.
You take them out into the world. Then we look at what landed, what didn't, and what you learned about yourself along the way. That's where the confidence gets built.
What you keep
Your Story Hub
A private space in Notion that grows with every session and becomes a resource you can return to again and again:
📚 Your Story Bank: every story we find, and where to use it.
📄 Ready-to-use drafts: your intro, a talk outline, a LinkedIn post.
🔎 Deep dive exercises on your values, purpose, and who you serve.
✏️ Journal prompts to keep exploring between sessions.
📝 Session notes and next steps, so you never lose the thread.
I use AI openly, with your permission, to capture and organize it all. The AI doesn't find your story. We do that together. It just keeps track, so you can stay present.
"The two LinkedIn posts we worked on together in our session have outperformed any other posts in the last year... It was really just storytelling."
A founder and communications coach
Real client stories
The next chapter, unlocked
Each of these leaders came in because they had a specific story need coming up: a talk, an introduction, an interview. But along the way, we got clear on their passions, their purpose, and who they most want to serve. Once they knew that, sharing their stories got easier, the right people started showing up, and their impact began to ripple out.
🌱 A senior environmental leader who learned to share her story generously
She dreaded introducing herself and felt sharing her story was bragging. Now, with her family's immigrant story tied to her purpose, she steps into public leadership with an introduction she's proud to share because it inspires the next generation.
🎤 A communications coach who learned to introduce herself.
She taught others to own their value while doubting her own. Now she has her own framework, a rebuilt offer, and her best-performing LinkedIn content of the year, and her business is growing with her ideal clients.
🎨 An architect who stopped hiding the artist.
He needed a bigger public presence to land the clients they wanted most: museums and community buildings. But he'd spent years resisting the idea that an architect could also be an artist, so his public story left half of him out. Now he writes a Fast Company series, sits on a contemporary art museum's board, and is landing more museum work for his firm.
🏛️ An executive director who made the leap.
She was torn between founding a nonprofit and staying a burned-out consultant. A childhood story about her father's public service guided her choice. Today her nonprofit serves hundreds of public servants nationwide.
🚀 A marketing leader who thought she'd wasted a decade.
After a brutal job search, she believed her last ten years were a string of wrong turns. Through her stories she shifted to see an inspiring climb from support rep to team leader. Now she's in a role she designed herself at a fast-growing startup, built around the work that matters most to her.
Your next chapter won't wait.
Neither should your story.
You already feel it. The words that come out flat. The next step that keeps slipping. The quiet voice asking who you are to go for more.
Now you know why. It's not a telling problem. It's a story you haven't had the time or space to explore.
And every month you put it off, the talk gets closer, the opportunity gets someone else's name on it, and the version of you that's ready for more stays quiet.
Here's your next step. In a free 20-minute Story Strategy call, we'll look at the moment you're preparing for and the story underneath it. You'll leave with at least one insight you can use that week, whether we work together or not.
Imagine what's possible when you walk into your next chapter clear on your purpose, confident in your story, and ready for the rooms that matter.
Let’s Connect
Book your Story Strategy call
The Story Strategy call is a free, 20-minute phone call. Here's what we'll do:
Name the moment you're preparing for: the talk, the interview, the next step.
Find the story underneath it, and what's getting in the way of telling it.
Map your next step, whether that's working together or not.
You'll leave with at least one insight you can use that week.
Please note: I only work with a small number of 1:1 clients at a time, so every leader gets my full attention. I hold a limited amount of time on my schedule for these calls. If you don’t see a time that works, or if you just want to connect on email, you can send me a note here.
Still got questions?
I got answers.
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1:1 coaching that helps you find, shape, and share the stories inside your life and career. We start with the story, then the telling, so you walk away with confidence, clarity, and purpose that infuses in all of the ways you communicate.
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You'll leave with a toolkit you can use for every story moment in your career. We choose what fits your goals, often from these:
🧭 Your Life Story Compass. We set a direction for your life and work, not a fixed destination. Think of a ship heading for a distant shore: we name your North Star belief, your vision, your mission, the people you most want to serve, and the values that keep you steady. It becomes your lens for decisions and the opportunities you want to create.
🧠 The Three Elements of an Effective Story, and the neuroscience behind them. You'll learn how to create a mental movie, spark a human connection, and tailor your story to your audience.
📐 The Story Blueprint. Get clear on what you want from a story moment, what your audience needs right now, and the shared thread that connects you. It's the framework that makes Me + You = Us.
🧱 The Story Foundation. The story planning sentence people remember years later: it's a story about what happened (action), but it's really about what it means (emotion), and you should care because of the impact you want to have (impact).
🏠 The Story House. How we build your full story, with the structure and details that take your audience on a journey and move them to act. Using what you learned from the Blueprint and Foundation, we build it with the Story Scaffold, Walls (data), Windows (details), and Doors (asks).
👋 The Hi-Story. Always a favorite. It's how you introduce yourself in a way that builds credibility, creates connection, and sparks curiosity, so you can have better conversations. It also helps you get clear on the bigger impact you want to make: I am / I do / To achieve.
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It's executive coaching through a story lens. We work on the real leadership situations you're navigating now and the explore the moments that have shaped your career.
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Related, but not the same. We build and practice the story underneath your talk, interview, or LinkedIn bio. If you need pure stage presence or speech coaching (breathing, vocal delivery), I'm happy to recommend someone great.
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It draws from both. I'm Co-Active trained, and stories are how we make sense of our lives, at work and beyond. I won't write or review your resume, but we can prep for interviews, a promotion, or a pivot through your stories.
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I'm a Co-Active practitioner, with 104 hours of coach training from the Co-Active Training Institute, accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I'm also certified by the Istoria Institute in Experiential Narrative Practice and Applied Narrative Intelligence, and I bring 20 years of professional storytelling experience to every session.
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Yes, openly and with your permission, to keep your notes and story drafts organized in your Story Hub. The discovery work happens between us.
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We start with three months. Many clients keep going after that. I’ve worked with people consistently from 3-9 months, but I’ve also had client complete on container, and come back later for specific story needs or to do a second container as their lives shifted and they were ready to level up again.
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Oh, hi! Did you scroll straight here? I get it. I do that too.
My Story Coaching containers start at $997 and go up from there. Saying "yes!" to Story Coaching is an investment of time, soul, and money, and it's an investment in you and the change you're ready to spark in your life and work.
I offer payment plans, plus a few pay-what-you-can spots each year for clients I really want to work with. Payments can be made by credit card, ACH, or PayPal.
Still have questions? Book a free 20-minute Story Strategy Session and let's talk about what's possible for you.
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Both: virtual everywhere, and in person across the SF Bay Area. I predominantly do my Story Coaching sessions virtually, but I love the chance to meet my clients in person when schedule and location line up.
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Book a free 20-minute Story Strategy Session and let’s connect. I can’t wait to hear more about your stories - past, present, and most importantly, possible.