Lisa Gates

Background

About Lisa Gates

As a leadership and career story sleuth, my superpower is helping ambitious women master their influence and thought leadership through the power of story so they are seen, heard, promoted—and rewarded—as the agents of change the workplace and the world is dying to see. A STORY Years ago I was interviewing for a new business coordinator position at a well-known PR firm—before Google and smartphones and all the ready access to information that might help me interview better. My future boss asked me, “Do you have a story from your work or life you think conveys who you really are as a person?” I was completely unprepared for that question. I fumbled around. And then I told him a story about how I convinced my high school board to allow girls to wear pants (yes, we’re talking old days). I thought I gave a riveting performance, but my boss said, “Now, tell me that story one more time and invest it with the characters and conflict.” And so I did, even sneaking in an imitation of the principal’s nasal twang. At that point I was thinking, I’m an actor, I know I nailed it. But he asked me to tell the story yet again, and “this time, don’t make yourself the hero of the story. Tell me about your missteps on the way to success.” And so I made a bit of a mess, but eventually I put a period on the last sentence and to my surprise, he hired me. Weeks later I was sitting down with my boss and I asked him why he made me jump through all those story hoops. He said, “I wanted to see if you could think on your feet. What we do here when you really get down to it is tell stories-brand stories, customer stories, human stories. I wanted to see if you had the makings of a good storyteller because that’s what will make you valuable to our clients and valuable to our company. Your story will make you promotable.” Boom. That lesson is now a part of my DNA. Storytelling not only helped me grow my early career, it has now helped me create a successful business as a coach through articles, interviews, blogging, podcasts, speaking engagements, and workshops. And I now use my life and career experience to help ambitious women grab hold of their superpowers, learn how to craft strategic narratives that inspire results, and become sought after thought leaders in their professions- Schedule a 30 minute Hello Call here: https://calendly.com/lisagates/30min Contact me: lisa@storyhappenshere.com 805-448-4020