Impactful storytelling is the new brass ring that everyone in the for-profit and social profit sectors is trying to grab to help their audiences better connect with their messages. Julie Hermelin has honed her craft for decades, and has been leading that drive for some time.
As the co-founder and managing partner of Gutsy Media, a narrative change storytelling studio, Julie is using storytelling to change the way we engage with complex issues and to transform the way people think. By opening what she calls “windows of consideration,” into the lives of her audiences, she frames the message in a way they can find themselves in it.
The secret, she believes, lies in listening.
“Everyone’s coming with their lives to whatever story you’re telling, and you may not know their lives, or you may know their lives. So how are we really deeply listening?” she challenges.
Julie firmly believes that storytelling is a powerful tool for building empathy in a way that reaches beyond presenting an aspirational vision, and that it allows individuals to arrive at their own conclusions.
Gutsy Media, Julie’s groundbreaking storytelling studio, is dedicated to taking intricate concepts and transforming them into captivating, emotionally-charged stories. Through these narratives, Julie and her team aim to facilitate a cultural conversation that brings people together to address pressing societal challenges.
Wake Up and Vote
Beyond Gutsy Media, Julie extended her expertise to launch the mission-based organization, Wake Up and Vote. The social profit organization supports grassroots movement groups and issue advocacy organizations with fresh and engaging digital storytelling and provides opportunities for established and emerging creators across entertainment, advertising, digital, and gaming to offer their talents for good.
A core part of Wake Up and Vote’s work is supporting frontline organizations that address community needs and hold elected officials accountable. By providing these organizations with effective storytelling tools, they are able to better engage their communities and secure the funding they need for meaningful change.
Julie believes in leading with a shared vision rather than focusing solely on problems, and that serving the needs, wants and desires of a community unites people to create positive change. “We all want to live in these communities together and we want our communities to be healthy and thriving. But it’s a lot to have our jobs, raise our kids, take care of our parents, be good neighbors, be good friends and take that extra vision of our civic responsibility.”
“We need to be engaged…if you don’t show up to your community, then you’re going to be living in a house that someone else has painted,” Julie added. “You’re going to be living in a house someone else has built…You need to participate in whatever way you can.”
To learn more about Julie’s work and how she uses storytelling to build empathy and influence change, visit the websites of Gutsy Media (www.gutsymedia.com) and Wake Up and Vote (www.wakeupnvote.com).
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