OUR STORY
Wakingstar was born when two traveling storytellers met and discovered they had the same vision.
It happened in a Jewish deli in Berkeley - where else? What they found surprised them. Both had begun their careers by traveling the world, gathering and telling stories. Though their journeys took them along very different paths, each came to discover the power of well told stories.
And as much as each loved stories for the entertainment value and the wisdom they imparted, each had come to realize that there was more, much more, that stories could do.
For the right story at the right time can create meaning in one's life. It can unify a community. It can change the way we think about things. It can inspire a world to action. Having seen much of the world and its problems, the two storytellers, Joel ben Izzy and Jay Golden, each had been asking themselves the same question: How might the power of story be tapped to make the world a better place?
Following this lead, each one had begun to take on clients who were doing great work but having a tough time talking about it, fumbling over a mess of acronyms, data points and complex language. Joel had focused on traditional performance skills, story training, writing and coaching. Meanwhile, Jay had turned his attention to visual stories, inspiring action and educating audiences on complex issues. Over time, each rose to become among the top story consultants in America. And each had developed an impressive client list of businesses and social enterprises. But at that meeting in the deli, each began to wonder how much more they could do with the skills of the other.
Their timing could not have been better. We live in momentous times, with huge challenges and paradigms needing to shift in so many realms - the way we eat, the way we power our world, the way we communicate, the way we build our communities, the way we solve problems, the way we care for ourselves and the way we care for our Earth.
As they traded stories they thought about the many types of stories in this world, including the ones that send you off to sleep and the ones that wake you up. The latter kind, they realized, is just what the world needs. We have no time to bore the audiences we want to inspire to action. Rather, we need stories that guide our way, like stars.
And so they called themselves Wakingstar, and set about crafting stories to shape the world.